Tag: art

Adrianna Button at The Dog Show

English Bull Dog

Charlotte, NC artist Adrianna Button’s works will be featured tomorrow night at Green Rice Gallery’s exhibition, The Dog Show. Three of her magnificent oil painting will be on display alongside 11 other dog artists (including Brian Rubenacker whom I featured here back in May).

While Adrianna refers to her paintings as Contemporary, I am struck how much they remind me of late19th/early 20th century artist John Singer Sargent’s work…well, specifically one of his pieces. Her brush strokes and energy capture the same essence I see in Sargent’s Pointy, one of my all time favorite dog paintings.

Adrianna studied painting as a girl alongside her artist father, and says, “My undergraduate work painting and illustration was spent exploring figures in all types of mixed media, but my love of dogs has captured my creative spirit.” Maybe it’s the spirit of love that ties Sargent and Button together. Pointy was painted for a woman Sargent was enamored with and Button’s dogs glow with a women who’s found a subject she is enamored with. Or maybe Button is simply a super-talented artist in the classic oil on canvas tradition and Sargent was way ahead of his time.

Regardless, I would love to see her paintings up close and really experience them. If you’re in the Charlotte area, you get the chance to do so tomorrow night at Green Rice Gallery. Sounds like a great night!

Golden Retriever

Black Lab

Italian Greyhound

Goldendoodle

Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

Information:

The Dog Show
Opening Reception: July 18, 2008
Time: 7–9 pm

Green Rice Gallery
451 East 36th St.
Charlotte, NC 28205
704-344-0300

Show runs until August 31, 2008

For more information about Adrianna Button or to commission a portrait of your pet visit her website Year of the Dog.

July 17, 2008
Happy Bastille Day!

French dog art and/or dog art in France keep cropping up on my radar. Today in celebration of their national holiday I offer you several stories about France + Dogs + Art. Enjoy!

July 14, 2008
Pierre Bonnard’s Dachshunds

The Bathroom, 1932

I recently found a fun and informative website written by a British black and tan Dachshund named Archie. It turns out Archie and I have similar tastes in art. We both are obsessed with French painter Pierre Bonnard (1867-1947). I thought it would be appropriate to feature Bonnard this Bastille Day, though any excuse would do.

Here are some of our favorite works:

The Red Checkered Tablecloth or The Dog's Lunch, 1910

Preparatory sketch for Le Café, 1915

Le Café, 1915

Carafe, Marthe Bonnard with her Dog, 1912-1915. (I love the evolution of this scene and I think this is the best incarnation.)

Woman with Dog, 1891. (I'm not sure if this is a Dachshund, but I'm pretending it is for the purposes of this post.)

My Companions

The Vigil

Nude in the Bath and Small Dog, 1941-1946.

Dressing Table and Mirror, 1913. (See the Doxie and the nude reflected in the mirror. This might be my favorite.)

Read Archie's take on Bonnard's life and works here.
He and I also recommend Bonnard by Sara Whitfield.

Note: click on images to view larger size.

July 14, 2008
Dogs in the Louvre

Dogs in the Louvre by François Nourissier and Élisabeth Foucart-Walter looks like the perfect book for first time dog-lovers visiting the Louvre, or for repeat visitors who want to appreciate the works from a dog-centric point of view.

Buy your copy here.

A curios note: The painting on the cover, Two Hunting Dogs Tied to a Tree Stump by Jacopo Bassano, 1548, is one of the works I used in my film Dogs in Art. But I found it at the Uffizi in Florence. Developing…

July 14, 2008
Jeff Koons Takes His Dog To Versailles

Kathleen Anderson's stunning photo of Magenta outside Palazzo Grassi, Venice. March 1, 2007. Via her flickr site

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There were mixed reactions last week when it was announced that prolific kitschy pop artist Jeff Koons's work will be on display in the salons of Versailles this fall. Most notably, for Dog Art Today readers, Magenta, his massive chrome balloon dog will take a place of honor in the former palace's Salon d'Hercule. The modern sculpture will be juxtaposed beside Veronese's le Repas chez Simon.

Salon d'Hercule, Versailles

Le Repas Chez Simon by Veronese, 1576

According to Lizzy Davies of The Guardian, there is both excitement about bringing contemporary art into the hallowed national treasure and utter horror that anyone would do so. But, it's happening. Many of Koons's most famous works will be on display in the salons and gardens starting September 10 until December 14, 2008.

Read more here.

July 14, 2008
Just Dogs at La Motta Fine Art

The Starlet by Moira McLaughlin

I am very excited to announce that I will be a part of gallery owner Janice La Motta's upcoming exhibition, Just Dogs, at La Motta Fine Art in Hartford, CT on July 26th. Four of my original collages and four limited edition prints will be on view along with my recent film Dogs in Art.

I am very honored to be included with eight other talented dog artists from across the country; Bill Bonecutter, Eric Ginsburg, Jane O'Hara, Dana Rose Lee, Leslie Enders Lee, Peter McCaffrey, Chuck Rigg, and Gary Steinborn, the last two whom, I am proud to say, Janice found on my blog.

Here is a taste of some of the works that will be on display.

Lotti by Leslie Enders Lee

Red Ball by Jane O'Hara

Boss-Tweed by Eric Ginsburg

There will also be a selection of 19th century dog prints on view. And best of all, dogs are weclome!

Information:

Just Dogs
Reception: Sat. July 26, 2-5 pm

La Motta Fine Art
11 Whitney Street
Hartford, CT 06105
860.680.3596

Show runs until August 22, 2008

8.11.08 Update: See pictures and a recap of the show here.

July 8, 2008
Gary Baseman Abroad

Even if you don’t know his name, I bet you know his work. Gary Baseman has created an art empire from his bulbous, cheeky, and sometimes-gruesome imagination. He is the Emmy winning creator of the cartoon Teacher’s Pet, a Juxtapoz favorite, the Cranium art designer, an illustrator for Nike, Gatorade, and Mercedes-Benz, and contributor to Esquire, Forbes, GQ, The New Yorker, Time, Reader’s Digest and Rolling Stone magazines, as well as in The New York Times.

His work is part of the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. and the Museum of Modern Art in Rome. He has his own toy line and monograph of his work entitled Dumb Luck: The Art of Gary Baseman. And, he’s a nice guy (I know him through a mutual friend).

Tomorrow, July 3, he opens his new show Knowledge Comes from Gas Release at the Iguapop Gallery in Barcelona, Spain. The 50 new works are said to be the result of Gary “challenging himself in a different way, trying to understand the aesthetic nature of what he paints, dealing with a sense of abstraction.”

I’m not sure if there are any dogs, but I bet there will be some when he moves on to Rome’s MondoPOP Gallery on Sunday July, 13, where he will be signing toys, books and other merchandise.

Congratulations, Gary, and good luck with the shows!

Sources: Juxtapoz and Wikipedia

July 2, 2008
Scotties & Mutts: Art Paw Free Pet Portrait Contest!

Rebecca Collins of Art Paw is giving away a free pet portrait to Scottie and Mutt owners. One day only! Click here to enter.

July 2, 2008
Pawsterpieces: Go For The Gold!

The winner of the Westminster Dog Show gets a lovely silver bowl. I know it’s tradition, but don’t our dogs deserve gold? Amy and Geoff Mitchell think so.

The L.A. couple behind a new pet portrait company called Pawsterpieces has come up with a gorgeous method of presenting your favorite pet photo on a gold leaf background. This exclusive process imbues each portrait with a shimmering timeless quality that makes it the perfect keepsake for you or gift for the pet lover in your life. Because, face it, everyone thinks their pet is the best in the world. And the best in the world deserves nothing less than gold. Ask anyone on the way to Beijing.

Amy has generously offered all Dog Art Today readers a 20% discount on any of their products if you mention you read about them here. They have several sweet options (below). Also, they can work with any photo you send them, but are happy to include a photo shoot your dog, cat, lizard, bird or horse to start the Pawsterpiece process.

And finally, don’t be afraid of investing in gold, their prices are very reasonable.

Close up of process

Produced from a low resolution image

Close up of the watercolor effect they achieved

Chose the handmade frame option

Sweet memory box

Oval frame option

To find out more, visit their website.

June 30, 2008
Chuck Rigg: Fearless

Black, Tan & Brown All Over

Here’s a secret. The thing that separates good artists from great artists is not talent. It’s courage. And today I’m featuring an artist who proves my theory, Chuck Rigg. Take a little journey with me through 5 of his dog paintings and I’ll show you what I mean.

The first and only painting I knew of Chuck’s was Black, Tan & Brown All Over (above). OK, I get it. He does highly textural dogs in a 70’s color palette, paintings that would pair nicely with some Jonathan Adler accessories. End of story.

Chuck is one of the artists of Cape Cod’s Truro Fine Art Studio where my sister, Kathleen, works and she mentioned he was having a show this week. Great, I said, I’ll feature him, thinking I’d do a simple post abut the painting of the two textural Spaniels.

Then came the other dogs, the ones that prove my theory. These are not re-workings of a lovely successful painting style he had achieved. Each one is something new, something more. Like he threw out all his old paints and decided to crack open his new blues and pinks. To paint on a ladder looking down. To throw the dogs up in the air (metaphorically speaking, of course).

Two Dogs

Lola

Dogs in Motion

Actually, he says his most recent paintings have been inspired by a visit to the Middle Eastern and Asian collections at the Freer and Sackler Galleries in Washington, DC. “I was struck by the beauty of design, the gracefulness of calligraphy, by paintings which use space as a compositional element and by surface decoration for its own sake.” He also recently visited Morocco and Moorish cities in southern Spain, and I think he must have brought back the light with him to his Provincetown studio.

So, now, you may think you get the evolution of Chuck and his dogs series, but brace yourself for one more…

The Dog in the Night

Here is Chuck painting anew again and it’s absolutely stunning. As a wine, I would describe the painting as a bold, yet mellow with hints of Freud (fleshy men in a formal setting), Matisse (the window and the curtain), and Picasso (blues and squares).

But it is, make no mistake, quintessentially a Rigg with all his influences clicking into one masterful work. A dusky Cape Cod sun sets outside while the floor is bathed in light reflecting off the Mediterranean. There are the Adler browns juxtaposed with a rug with a detail from a Moroccan parapet. And there’s the dog. And this is what makes Chuck a great artist, he has the courage to let the dog exit his painting stage right. Spectacular!

(Note: Chuck is not solely a dog artist, take a moment to see his other works in the show.)

See all of Chuck Rigg’s work at the Truro Fine Art Studio’s show, Menagerie, which opens tomorrow, June 27, 5pm-7pm.

Info:
Truro Fine Art Studio
#5 Depot Road
Truro, MA
508.349.2303

Visit their website for more information.

And also check out their new blog featuring their Jobi Pottery, handmade on the Cape from the original mid-century modern molds. Very cool!

June 26, 2008