Category: 20th Century Dog Art

Picasso’s Marie-Thérèse at Acquavella Galleries

Marie-Thérèse Walter © Gérard Blot/Réunion de Musées Nationaux/Art Resource, NY, Acquavella Galleries

The big news about the exhibition Picasso’s ‘Marie-Thérèse’ at Acquavella Galleries in NYC is that it is the first time Le Rêve (The Dream) will be viewed since Steve Wynn put his elbow through it in 2006 and blew a $139 million sale. But I would also like to see the photographs of Marie-Thérèse, Picasso's teenage muse and lover, like the one above with her mother's dog, Dolly. Via the NY Times.

Le Rêve with Photoshopped hole where actual tear occured. Via Never Yet Melted

BTW, Christopher Knight of the LA Times writes about Le Rêve:

"What makes the painting so exceptional is its exalted place in a hallowed tradition that includes Titian's Venus of Urbino, Caravaggio's Triumphant Cupid, Courbet's Origin of the World and many more. Le Rêve is an exquisite Modern sex painting."

Holland Cotter of the NY Times calls it kitsch. What do you think?

Show runs until November 29, 2008. Visit Aquavella Galleries for more information.

Related Links:
OMG! Another Titian Dog Art Masterpiece!

October 24, 2008
John Heartfield: Dogs + War

Hurray, The Butter is Finished, 1935 (reference to Herman Goering's statement, "Iron ore has always made an empire strong, butter and lard have at most made people fat.")

The Akron Art Museum's current exhibition John Heartfield vs. Nazi Germany includes over 40 socially conscious photogravures by one of the most brilliant and outspoken artists of the 20th century.

Born in Germany in 1891 as Helmut Herzfeld, he changed his name to protest WW I. As the Weimar Republic took hold of the country, Heartfield's collages became highly critical of Hitler and the Third Reich. Ultimately his work was banned during the height of the Nazi regime, only to be rediscovered in the late 50s. He died in 1968.

Look closely at the dates on these photogravures. These works are from the mid-1930s, and are concrete proof that Hitler's atrocities were no secret and no surprise. They are a reminder to turn to artists and not corporate news channels to *see* the world as it really is.

A Place in the Sun, 1935 (Mussolini, "I want to provide my people with a place in the sun!")

The Teaching of the Wolves, 1935

BTW, the Akron Art Museum is one of only three museums in the US to possess substantial holdings of Heartfield’s art. This is the first time they have all been on display. The exhibition runs until November 30, 2008. Click here for more information.

P.S. Heartfield's work is also a stark reminder of the dire consequences of what happens to an administration and a country that puts guns before butter.

Related links:

The images above are courtesy of George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film
.

HEARTFIELD: Towson University's collaborative website site with MFA student Kate Chisholm who produced and directed a musical about John Heartfield's life and work in 2000.

The book Heartfield Versus Hitler by John Willett is available here.

September 25, 2008
Stolen: Figure with Dog by Emil Nolde

Figure with Dog by Emil Nolde, 1912

Have you seen this painting? It was stolen this August from an Encino, CA couple’s home along with at least a dozen other works by artists including Marc Chagall, Hans Hofmann, Chaim Soutine, Arshile Gorky, Lyonel Feininger, Diego Rivera, and Kees van Dongen.

The pieces are estimated to be worth millions. There is a $200,000 reward for anyone with information leading to the the return of the artworks. So keep your eyes open, this dog art is hot.

Via Art Observed.

September 19, 2008
Francis Bacon at Tate

Figures in a Garden, 1936

The Francis Bacon (1909-1992) exhibition at Tate Britain that opens this Thursday, September 11, 2008 will bring together his best and most important paintings from throughout his turbulent life. It will also feature at least two dog art works, Figures in a Garden (above) and Study of a Dog (below), both part of
Tate's permanent collection.

Study of a Dog, 1952

Man Walking Dog (below) is one of my all time favorite dog paintings. I am not sure if it will be part of the exhibit.

Man Walking Dog, 1952

Click here to watch co-curator, Chris Stephens, give insight into the show, which runs until January 4, 2009.

Related links:

Francis Bacon's record setting sale.

September 8, 2008
Picasso & Lump: The Art

Inspired by the awesome LaHaise original of Darby I received from Heather yesterday, I am featuring some of my all-time favorite artworks by Picasso of his beloved Dachshund named Lump.

First there is this sweet paper bunny, a sculpture that would be worth millions today, Picasso made as a toy for his little muse…

Look at this wonderful plate he made with Lump on it. I would love to know if this was Lump’s doggie dish…

Then, Picasso was inspired by what many consider the greatest painting in the Western world, Spanish court painter Diego Velázquez’s Las Meninas (The Maids of Honor, 1656).

Picasso painted over 40 studies of this breathtakingly complex work. Several include Lump…

See more photos of Picasso and Lump here. Order the book Picasso & Lump: A Dachshund’s Odyssey by David Douglas Duncan here.

All photos © David Douglas Duncan who was Lump’s original owner before the savvy pup charmed his way into Pablo Picasso’s life. Classic Dachshund!

September 5, 2008
Keith Haring’s Dogs

Untitled, 1980

Keith Haring (1958-1990), the quintessential Pop artist who stamped his style all over Manhattan in the 80s, would have turned 50 this year. Haring's work is lauded for the "primacy of the line" as well as his devotion to the universal concepts of birth, death, love, sex and war.

Looking at his images on the excellent Keith Haring website, I would have to add dogs to that list as there are 86 dog art works there. It was impossible for me to choose my favorite, but here are some picks to enjoy. Click on images for larger view.

Untitled, 1980

Untitled, 1980

Untitled, 1980

Untitled, 1980

Untitled, 1981

Nine Drawings, 1981

Untitled, 1981

To me, Keith Haring represented everything that was cool and possible about the 1980s before he came to embody the tragedy of AIDS that decimated the arts community in the second half of the decade. Sadly he died at age 31 in 1990.

But even after his diagnosis in 1988, he used his talent to connect with people, bring awareness to the disease, and establish the Keith Haring Foundation to provide funding and imagery to AIDS organizations and children’s programs. Brilliant!

To own your own Keith Haring poster, decal, pin, t-shirt or toy and see many more fabulous dogs visit his Pop Shop.

There is also a compilation book called Dogs that includes Haring's dog art work and personal writings on life, children and friendship.

It would be a great Christmas gift for the Pop Art dog lover in your life. Click here to order.

August 26, 2008
M.C. Escher the Dog Artist

Seems famous Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher (1898-1972), known for his intricate impossible contsructions, started out with more simple shapes like this dog tessellation (a geometric design of identical interlocking shapes) from 1938.

See more cool dog tessellations on Rita's Dog Blog, a lovely blog written by a dog with great taste in art.

August 13, 2008
Happy Birthday Andy Warhol

Andy and Archie, his beloved muse and alter-ego, by Jack Mitchell via The Long and Short of It All.

Andy Warhol would have turned 80 today. It's so tragic to think about the life and art he missed out on. And to wonder what would Andy Warhol have done with the Internet, YouTube, Photoshop…reality TV?! The thought of Andy Warhol in the digital age is mind blowing. The world would be a very different place.

Here is an awesome video of Factory footage for The Party, a song by Cleveman and Rössel of legendary Swedish underground band Dom Dummaste (OK, I've never heard of them but they're a new favorite).

Via very cool blog, Nag on the Lake, who also has some more excellent Andy Warhol links from Slow Learning, like what to wear to Andy's birthday party.

Other Andy Warhol links:

See more dog (and cat) art works here.

See Ginger, a spectacular Cocker Spaniel silk screen, and his Chanel No. 5 posters here.

Update 8.8.08: It seems Andy Warhol did have a chance to embrace MTV in 1985 before he died with a show called Andy Warhol's Fifteen Minutes. The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh will be showing the pilot and several episodes throughout the weekend starting today.

Also admission today is $0.80 and free if you're 80 years old.

Via IheartPGH.com, an all things Pittsburgh blog with many more Andy Warhol birthday links.

August 6, 2008
David Hockney and His Dachshunds

David Hockney and his muses, Stanley and Boogie, in front of his Dachshund paintings. The photo is from an invitation to an exhibition at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rottredam, 1995. Via Marlou’s Phoenix Blog.

For more David Hockney visit his new authorized website. Via Mary Adam’s Drawing Etc blog, filled with interesting analysis of his career and excellent links.

To buy the book featuring Hockney’s Dachshunds, David Hockney’s Dog Days, click here.

July 31, 2008
Andy Warhol’s Ginger

Driving by the Weidman Gallery on Santa Monica Blvd. yesterday, I nearly rear-ended a car. Behold what was in the window, Andy Warhol's Chanel No. 5 poster. It's over 5 feet tall and it's spectacular!

It reminded me that I've been meaning to post one of the treasures I discovered while working on my film Dogs in Art, Andy Warhol's Ginger.

Ginger by Andy Warhol, 1976

I've done a lot of research on Andy Warhol's dogs via the Web, and I've never seen this image before. I like to think I am debuting on the Internet today. Btw, I found it in the book Best in Show: The Dog in Art from the Renaissance to Today by Edgar Peters Bowron, Carolyn Rose Rebbert, Robert Rosenblum, and William Secord.

The painting was done originally for Peter Brant who owned the beautiful Cocker Spaniel and was Warhol's friend and Interview partner. After seeing the finished work, he encouraged Warhol to focus on pet portraits as a new revenue stream. This lead to Warhol using stuffed animals as subjects (not toys but taxidermy). Not exactly what Brant had in mind, I bet, but creative none-the-less. Read more about Warhol's dog (and cat) paintings in Vincent Fremont's 2006 article on Artnet.

More Warhol Chanel No. 5 bottles via Andy Blog.

Looking at a Warhol I have never seen before, as well as drooling over his Chanel No. 5 poster in the window, reminds me anew how brilliant Warhol was with color. Sometimes I get desensitized to his mega-talent because his images are so iconic. They are almost hard to see anymore, because I can view them in my mind's eye without really bringing a fresh look to them.

Ginger is just perfect and so are the Chanel silkscreens. All the hype aside, Warhol really was a true genius.

If you're in Los Angeles, stop by the Michael Kohn Gallery for their current exhibition of Andy Warhol's black and white photographs from 1976-1987. I'm trying to find out if there are any dogs in the show. I will let you know.

In other news, color lovers – like Rebecca Collins — will enjoy two great color links I found today:

ColorFlip.com by Rafael Rozendaal is a mesmerizing Friday time waster via Angie McKaig's blog (she's the CEO of the Pampered Puppy, but this blog is more web biz than puppy bling.)

And Katherine Tyrrell's recent super-comprehensive post, Describing a Color Space – There's More Than One Color Wheel, on her informative Making a Mark blog.

July 18, 2008