From French Marie-Claire courtesy of Juliette Merck via NOTCOT…
Photographed by Peter Lippmann. Styled by Isabelle Roville.
Category: Dog Art Photography
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Headed to the Hills
Darby and I are headed to Gold Country to have an adventure for a few days. Did you know 75% of gold is still unmined in California?! See you next week…1916 photo of a miner panning for gold with his dog courtesy of the Library of Congress.
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Wendy B’s Wegmans
Jewelry designer and blogger Wendy B left a comment on the William Wegman post that she was "lucky enough to have Wegman take our dogs'
picture!" And added her impression of Wegman's interaction with her pups. "He was very good with them and knew exactly when they'd had
enough. If anyone was annoyed it was me — by my pooches' bad behavior!" OK, further evidence that the famous photographer is not abusing the animals by putting them in stress positions.
Wendy has graciously shared her custom Wegmans of her Pekingneses, Gigi and the late Chubbs, with us. She scored the session with Wegman at a charity event in 2004 and took the shots at his studio where "various Weimaraners were wandering around the studio and they seemed like calm, happy dogs."
The frame photo was created by holding the dogs behind a painted image on black paper with the middle cut out, and sticking the heads through the opening. Clever.Excuse the strange perspective. These are large photos hanging in a very narrow hallway. Thank you for sharing Wendy. Oh, and don't forget to visit Wendy's wonderful blog where she writes about medieval history, feminism, dogs and anything else that inspires or annoys her. Her caustic take on all of the above is thoroughly refreshing. And I adore her jewelry, especially her rings.
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William Wegman: Fay at Akron Art Museum
Basic Shapes by William Wegman
To be honest, I have always had mixed feelings about William Wegman's work. I can't shake the feeling that his Weimaraners look sad, or at minimum annoyed. But much like my view of George Rodrigue's Blue Dog tempered into deep appreciation after learning more about his relationship to his muse, Tiffany, after reading the press notes for William Wegman: Fay at the Akron Art Museum, I am looking at Wegman's photos anew. And seeing his dog Fay as his collaborator, not simply his tool, makes me think differently about his work.
Here are some excerpts that changed my mind:
While living in California, Wegman acquired Man Ray, a Weimaraner whom he named after the surrealist French photographer. The dog became his partner in both life and art during their twelve-year collaboration. Man Ray became so famous that, upon his passing, he was named ‘Man of the Year’ by the New York City newspaper The Village Voice.Grief-stricken by Ray’s death, Wegman made the decision not to get another dog, but some years later he came to meet another Weimaraner:
“When we first met in Memphis, Tennessee, she was six months old and her name was Cinnamon Girl. I named her Fay after Fay Wray, of course, but also after my first color Polaroid with Man Ray and the nail polish, which I had titled Fay Ray. Her fur was taupe, lighter and warmer-toned than Man Ray’s, and she had yellow eyes like in a Rousseau painting. I had no intention of photographing Fay. Man Ray was irreplaceable. I didn’t want to mar my memory of him.
… In a short time Fay matured from a coltish youth into a Garboesque beauty. My pictures grew with her. Now she was the muse, the adored one. Skin-deep beauty became the soul of my work.”Fay had a chameleon-like quality very different from Man Ray's concrete presence. The bond between the artist and his muse is undeniable. Images of Fay balanced upon an ironing boarding in Sphinx (1987) and coolly starting into the lens from beneath a black net in Netted (1988) show her deep trust in Wegman.
I still don't know if balancing a dog on an ironing board is the best idea. But I think I see more love and less annoyance in Fay's eyes. And to me that makes a big difference.
If you are in the Akron area, you have a chance to hear William Wegman speak on May 15, 2009 at 6:30 pm. Tickets are available here.
William Wegman: Fay runs from May 16 to August 16, 2009 at the Akron Art Museum.
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Dog Wall Photograph
I found this beautiful photo of a deteriorated wall that resembles a sitting dog on my favorite Korean dog art site, Merry & Happy. If anyone can read Korean, click here and see if you can find out more about this photo for me. I love it.
Have a happy weekend!
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PAWS For Charity Art Book
L.A. Photographer Sabrina Helas dropped me a note to let me know a very cool dog art book that she contributed to is now available. She was one of 37 dog artists who submitted their work to make the PAWS for Charity Art Book. The project was spearheaded by Sara Harley and proceeds go to the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade.
Visit the PAWS for Charity blog for more.
Sabrina also has links to all the artists at her website. Awesome!
Cover photo by Michelle Ciarlo-Hayes.
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Andrew Pinkham: Best in Show
Andrew Pinkham's dog portraits exhibition, Best in Show, opens tonight at Silicon Gallery in Philadelphia. His photographs are breathtaking, and 20% of each commission goes to three charities: Philadelphia Greyhound Connection,
National Greyhound Adoption Program, PSPCA. Also, on May 1 there will be Greyhounds at the Silicon Gallery available for adoption from the Philadelphia Greyhound connection. Very cool! For more about Adrew Pinkham visit his website.
Hat tip to Matthew Rose who sent me this info via The Artblog. Artists might be interested in participating in Matthew's latest collaborative project A Book About Death in which 1000 artists create an unboud book. I am going to contribute. Learn more about it here where you can view the works as they come in.(If you like this post, please leave a comment or subscribe to Dog Art Today. This blog is powered by traffic from readers like you. Thank you for visiting!)
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1850 Poodle Daguerreotype
Poodle with Bow on Table by Anonymous American Photographer, 1850
This sweet Poodle daguerreotype is up for auction at Sotheby’s New York on Monday March 30, 2009. The catalogue’s condition report highlights its “excellent condition” and points out that “this daguerreotype is astonishing for the clarity of its rendering of a
difficult subject. Looked at under magnification, this image shows a
wealth of detail in the dog’s face and in the texture of its fur.”What I find astonishing is that its one of the earliest dog photographs I have ever seen. And, it is yet another indication that our deep love of our pets is nothing new. Not only does the photographer spend time, money, and materials in a complicated and time consuming process to memorialize the dog, someone also took the time to give her jaunty bow. Wonderful!
Estimate is $5,000 – $7,000. Visit Sotheby’s for more information.
Hat tip to my friend Kevin Hannigan who sent me this story via Andrew Sullivan’s blog.
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Maarten Wetsema’s Dog Portraits
Look what fabulous design maven and dog lover Laura Sweet discovered and posted over on her blog If It's Hip, It's Here, Dutch photographer Maarten Wetsema's brilliant dog portraits. Here are some of my favorites:
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Five Free Photo Sessions from Sabrina Helas
Although, L.A. photographer Sabrina Helas is still mourning the loss of her dog Kramer, who succumbed to cancer last month, she has found great comfort in the many photographs she took of her sweet boy over the years. Inspired by this, and by Kramer's generous spirit, Sabrina is offering five free photo sessions to anywone with an ailing pet who might not have the resources to afford a photo session due to the economy. What an amazing tribute to Kramer. Thank you, Sabrina!
Visit Sabrina's blog for details.
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