offstage

Bequest of Harry G. Sperling, 1971 www.metmuseum.org

No one knows precisely whom they are, this guarded young noblewoman and her fuzzy watchman.  Painted by Alonzo Sanchez Coello around the 1570s  (as it's thought), this "Portrait of a Woman" could be a member of Philip II's court; the Metropolitan Museum of Art also has citations suggesting she's a member of the Pernstein or Aragon families.  I've found out that right about this time, Vratislav von Pernstein, Chancellor of Bohemia, had married two of his daughters into the Aragon nobility. 
There's a Mannerist hyperattention to detail in the portrayal of rich textiles and surfaces, but at the same time, there is an intensity here that is arresting.  I say this not only because of this young woman's intense dark-eyed gaze; look at her dog, below.

credit as above

 Someone he liked?  Someone he didn't trust?  There is an implied third relationship here, and we'll never know whom it was who stood offstage.

vintage wednesday

Small dog, circa 1870, Dunedin, by Burton Brothers studio. Te Papa (O.034227)

I'm currently out of my own discoveries for Vintage Wednesday, but I found this fine portrait at the Museum of New Zealand's collection.  This was taken at the Burton Brothers studio in Dunedin, NZ.

the colonel's splendid dog

https://www.webumenia.sk/dielo/SVK:SNG.O_4859 PD

Whomever Colonel Ladislav Szent Ivanyi was, his dog was not only very fine, but knew how to offer a flower most winsomely.  This oil portrait by an unknown painter, dated 1756, seems to have been painted to commemorate Ivanyi's engagement to Barbara Horvath.  That's me interpreting Google Translate for Latin to English, so beware.  Is the dog offering him a flower in congratulations or to symbolize his felicitous event? Probably both.

two tender creatures

Smithsonian American Art Museum http://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1977.92

"Sit for me just a little," I imagine J. Alden Weir saying to his wife Anna sometime round 1890. "I want to paint you exactly as you are right now."  The result was this small impressionistic oil "Portrait of a Lady with a Dog (Anna Baker Weir),"  kept in the family till the 1970's.  (The dog's name was Gyp.)  Weir was a member of "The Ten," the breakaway group of American artists that challenged stylistic and exhibition norms of the time. An interesting and detailed account of Weir can be found on the NPS.gov site of his farm, here.

the dog jackson by emily hackbart

image copyright and by kindest permission of the artist

I admit it, I seem to be on a watercolor kick this week, and here's my latest pleasure: the pet portraits created by Missouri artist Emily Hackbart.  Simple and clarified, her portraits are a distillation of cuteness and life force.  Jackson, above, is my pick to showcase, but I'd recommend you also check out...oh, how about Felix and Tabitha, or Delila? 
Here's Emily on her work and herself:
***
I'm Emily Hackbart, the owner and operator of The Paper Woodland. I LOVE drawing and painting more than anything, and love to share my work in hopes it will bring a smile to your face! :)
I grew up on a farm in Northern California and spent most of my time with my animal friends, playing with them and drawing them.
My style developed over time, I mostly did more realistic pencil sketches and pen and ink drawings when I was growing up. It wasn't until I went to college that I first tried watercolor. I took a beginning watercolor class and instantly fell in love! It quickly became my favorite medium.
I graduated from college with a BFA in Art, and promptly became a flight attendant, lol. I did a little art here and there for the next several years, but nothing serious. In the meantime I married an amazing man, and had two sweet babies. When I was on maternity leave with my second son, I decided I didn't want to go back to work as a full-time flight attendant, and so The Paper Woodland was born! It has been an amazing, wonderful journey, and besides my family, is my greatest passion in life!
I now live on a big farm in Missouri with my husband and three adorable little boys. Everyday is filled to the brim with animals and farming and little boys, but at night I love nothing more than to sit at my desk and draw and paint little illustrations that are inspired by the life I live.
It is a full, busy life, and I love every minute of it! ♥

***

Joyful words from a joyful creator.  Want a portrait done but you're not a dog or a cat?  You're in luck, human.  Check out The Paper Woodland.

bounding into the new year

Museum purchase funded by the Brown Foundation Accessions Endowment Fund
https://www.mfah.org (PD)

It's a beautiful day in the world of Sir Joshua Reynolds.  The year is 1777, and Mrs. Elisha Mathews, first wife of Francis Mathew 1st Viscount Llandaff, is posing in a gray dress that shows up well against the dramatically clouded sky.  This is a snapshot of a glamorous stroll for a poised, dignified gentlewoman 13 years married and the mother of an heir and a spare.  Now have a look at her dog, a pretty spaniel or setter, excited, happy, full of liveliness - all the feelings a fine lady cannot show openly if she wishes to stay dignified and fashionable, even though her face looks as if she's very well aware of her own good fortune.
I thought it was most clever of Sir Joshua to signal this lady's life and situation through her furry sidekick.  Also, this portrait reflects how I myself feel about the year to come:  soberly, wryly evaluating possibilities to myself, while another part wants to frisk and bark with hope and fresh days to come. 
Happy New Year's Eve to you all!

grey spots, a blue sky

Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

"A Grey Spotted Hound" stands at proud attention with his prey, a bird draped open-beaked at his feet (ah, poor thing). This oil on panel portrait was created in 1738 by John Wootton (British, 1682-1764), in his time considered one of the best painters of sporting life.  In the 1720's he studied in Rome as Baroque art was entering its final years.  To me that explains the deep, warm color of the background, its long scope, and the clarity of this piece's details, and how this splendidly-coated fellow stands with such presence. 

a windswept papillon

image copyright and courtesy of the artist

Small dog, big presence:  this papillion by Massachusetts artist Melody Lea Lamb gazes into the wind, alert yet calm.  He's present in the moment, as dogs know so well how to be.  The original of this piece was done in colored pencil and India ink, and all of 3.5 x 2.5 inches.  The careful rendering of the fur, and overall realism of the approach, has been so skilfully handled that it doesn't overwhelm the small space of the portrait.  At Lamb's Etsy shop you can see many more of these tiny works as well as ones a bit bigger.  I was drawn to the simple, jewel-toned immediacy of this one.
Melody Lea Lamb's website is full of even more of these detailed, bright works, and I am sure they will delight you.

twelve children and a dog

thanks wikimedia commons (PD:100)

Baroness Krisztina Nyáry de Bedegh's life was brief by our standards (she passed away at 37 in 1641). According to the requirements of her time and station you could say she made the most of it: she had no less than twelve children, most with her second husband Count Nikolaus Esterhazy, Palatine of Hungary.  As befitting the image of a loyal wife, she's portrayed here in 1626 (age 22)  in decorous pose complete with small dog as living marker of her fidelity.  Here's a slightly better look.

Of course a highborn lady had very little hand in raising her own children then, but as always I imagine a dog's company would still be restful.  

three dogs, downtime

photo courtesy Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

Here are "A Couple of Foxhounds with a Terrier, the property of Lord Henry Bentinck," as portrayed circa 1845 by William Barraud (British, 1810-1850).  This dignified, gentle painting is worth a good look, so if it doesn't come up larger on a click, please try it here at the Yale Center for British Art's record page.

I grant you that this painting concerns the hunt, which is not a tender activity.  What drew my eye is that Barraud has chosen to show the dogs either before or after - I feel it is after, as they seem more relaxed - and taking pleasure and comfort in each other's company.  Do you see how the white terrier is actually sitting on the one foxhound's feet?  Imagine my pleasure too to find a reference to Barraud himself indicating that this was the sort of direction he liked to take in his own life. I found it at this good short biography, where a contemporary is quoted on Barraud as "…upright and sincere, and while unsparingly rigid to himself, he was indulgent and considerate towards others."

1910: portrait of wife and dog

Konrad Krzyżanowski [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

In this 1910 portrait by the Polish Expressionist painter Konrad Krzyanowski, his wife and their dog are providing a painterly opportunity.  I've posed for my husband as he paints or draws me, and I well recognize that patient, purposeful stillness as she leans into the chair.  Speaking of the the chair, how curious that it dissolves into thin air around her, as though it was there to provide the idea of domesticity rather than hard evidence.  Meanwhile the family dog sits at alert, and probably has for several minutes on end at this point, because the Other Human He Loves is looking at him and paying attention to him.  Something I see frequently in discussions on pets is the statement "We don't deserve dogs," said in reference to the purity of their love.  I think the paleness of this image is a larger thematic play off that purity, reflecting this moment, these relationships.

madame de pompadour's dog

Acquired by Henry Walters, 1895 (CC) thewalters.org

The artist: Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, circa 1755.  If that name sounds familiar to Museum friends with a taste for French history, that's because you know Jeanne best as the Marquise de Pompadour (1721-1764).  This engraving of her dog - possibly Bébé - was the latest stage in an art collective.  As explained here at the Walters' source page, the pup's portrait was first engraved upon a gem by Jacques Guay.  Then another artist, possibly Francois Boucher, drew the gem, and last but not least Madame de Pompadour created an engraving based on the drawing.  This isn't meant to take away from the quality of the engraving at all.  The delicacy and sprightliness of this creature still shine through its third stage of portrayal; Madame de Pompadour was a woman of several gifts, so this doesn't surprise me.

I found a transcript of an NPR review of the Walters' exhibition in which "Bebe" was included.  Would you like to read it?  Here you go. 

BONUS!  Are you interested in the royal world of Versailles in general?  Have I found the blog for you.  This is Versailles.

the lively lines of julie pfirsch

copyright and by kindest permission of the artist

Julie Pfirsch once wanted to be a dog when she grew up.  When I read that on her website, I knew I'd found the real deal:  she decided to be an artist instead, and bring all that excellence of dog soul to her energetic, well crafted and vibrant pet portraits.  (Here's her Instagram too.)  This pittie portrait, above, was the first to catch my eye with its disciplined knowledge of dog anatomy, yet the bright strikes of color give it motion and verve.  A glimpse of her Etsy shop shows more examples.  Most of them are in colored pencil, with a soft and layered feel to the color.  You'll see she also works in acrylics, bolder and brighter, and in oils for a stately and timeless capturing.
I keep looking at the portrait above with such pleasure; I want to throw a ball for him, as he seems so very ready to go.
http://www.juliepfirsch.com/
https://www.instagram.com/paintmyfaceoff/

it's monday. have a vintage dog in a hat

NYPL, PD. see below for citation

From the photography studio of O. F. Baxter sometime during 1860 to 1880, here's a stereoscopic view of a most obliging hat model.  What might it have looked like in a stereograph viewer?  As it happens, the NYPL website has an animation tool to do that, and who can resist?

the countess' two dogs

Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection (PD)

England, 1787: here's "The Countess of Effingham with Gun and Shooting Dogs," and I get the sense she's been telling those two to whoa and stay for a a while.  They want to go back to the field and work, clearly.
The definition of a shooting or gun dog is one that is bred to help retrieve game, usually birds.  They may be retrievers, flushing dogs, or pointers:  they go fetch the bird, or they run up and make the bird fly out of its cover, or they point out exactly where the bird is hiding.  I can't tell which sort these are (Setters? They are big enough) but they are a handsome pair.
George Haugh executed this piece; I do believe this portrait by Benjamin West shows the same woman 10 years later.

fancy

the metropolitan museum of art.The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951 

Here's a poodle sporting what I can only imagine is the fashionable dog hairdo of the mid-1600's.  This engraving was created by Wenceslaus Hollar (1607-77) after a work done by the Dutch painter Adriaen Matham.  (Matham was a major figure in Dutch-Moroccan relations; I throw that in for the random pleasure of the finding.)  Over at poodlehistory.org there is a page chock full of details on poodle hair throughout history - have a look.

hairy eyeball 1849

thanks wikiart.org (PD)

No difficulty getting this model to stay put: he's perfectly comfortable, thank you very much.  Dogs have been giving us that sidelong eyeball since time immemorial.  In this deft "Study of a Dog" of 1849, the great English landscape watercolorist David Cox gives us a timeless glimpse of a friend.
Cox was a member of the Birmingham School of landscape artists, a group that brought a personal character to the natural scenes and objects portrayed, investing their subjects with a feeling of individuality.*  Naturally this would work even better for a dog, the prime living interface between man and nature.  Whether the golden brown atmosphere around the dog is meant to be straw, or reflected firelight, the effect only reinforces the snug feeling he must be enjoying; we feel it too.

*Did you know Birmingham has a long history as an arts town?  I didn't.  You should read this.

sample dogs

Image courtesy of York Museums Trust :: http://yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk :: CC BY-SA 4.0

1844, England: Emma Stead, age 12, works away on her sewing practice, creating this gorgeous sampler in colored wools on linen.

doghance!

Perhaps these were the family dogs.  Excellent work.  I certainly couldn't stitch so finely.
To learn more about samplers, try this article at the Victoria & Albert Museum's website.

two little sitters, england 1780's

Portrait of George Dawe as a child, circa 1784, by George Morland.
Gift of the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, 1936. Te Papa (1936-0012-96)

Sitters, not setters; I am pretty sure this is a spaniel, but the pun was tempting.  Here's a bucolic portrait by English artist George Morland, whom we last saw illustrating the door to door peddling of guinea pigs.  As I remarked then, Morland's young life was not the easiest, and I believe that made him particularly sensitive to the tenderness and fragility of small creatures.  Here's a better look at the pup:

George Dawe, the child in this portrait, is very likely one and the same to the English painter George Dawe (1781-1829); the timing is right for Dawe to have been a small child around 1784, and his father Philip Dawe was a longtime and staunch friend to Morland during the latter's checkered life.  Dawe later wrote "The Life of George Morland," in which he reports the following:

Some nobleman was desirous of giving Morland a commission for a picture, but when the artist learned that the would-be patron was a lord, he exclaimed: "Damn lords!  I shall paint for no lords!  Tom, bring up Rattler and the puppy!" (p. xvii)

Dawe's book makes for sympathetic but clear-eyed reading - and you can see it here.

more from seattle art fair: rohrig's dogs

photos by me

Here's a canine offering from my visit to last weekend's Seattle art fair: Gail Severn Gallery had several of these Alexander Rohrig dog portrait heads.  Top to bottom: "Bronze Dog," "Brindle (Bulldog)," "Scottie Dog," and "Planed Dog."  All, limestone except for "Bronze Dog."