Dog Art Today

Tag: louise burckhardt

  • John Singer Sargent’s Studio

    John_singer_sargent

    John Singer Sargent, 1885

    Photograph of John Singer Sargent in his Paris studio circa 1885.  Photographer unknown via the Smithsonian Institution photostream on flickr.  Note the large dog portrait in the upper left hand corner.

    I wonder if this is where he seduced Louise Burckhardt (or she seduced him)…

    Louise

    Louise Burckhardt, Lady With The Rose, by Sargent, 1882

    …and also painted Louise's dog, Pointy.  IMO, one of the greatest dog art works of all time…

    Pointy

    Pointy by John Singer Sargent, early 1880's

    Read more about the bittersweet love story here.  Pointy is also one of the stars in my short film, Dogs in Art.

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  • Christie’s Dog Sale Spotlight: John Singer Sargent’s Pointy

     

    Pointy

    I’m still going through all 96 lots at Christie's, but today’s favorite dog painting at auction this Friday is Pointy by John Singer Sargent. I love that the celebrated portrait artist deigned to paint a pet, and the thick, almost graffiti-like inscription gives it such a contemporary feel.

    There is also a bittersweet love story behind this work. Pointy was the pet of ex-pat socialite Louise Burckhardt with whom Sargent had an affair in the early 1880s. (The Pointy painting was a gift to her.) There was even talk of an engagement, but Louise would marry Roger Ackerley in 1889 and die shortly thereafter.

    Louise

    Sargent’s 1882 portrait of Louise, Lady With The Rose, (above) was a sensation at the Paris Salon and added immeasurably to his reputation… and, I’m sure, his love life.