Dog Art Today

Tag: photos

  • War Dogs by Rebecca Frankel

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    photo by U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Allen Stokes

    Rebecca Frankel is the deputy managing editor of ForeignPolicy.com, and she writes a weekly war-dog feature there.  This week, she produced a stunning photo essay on contemporary dogs of war. There is continuing speculation about the dog who accompanied the 79 Navy SEALs on their May 1, 2011 mission.   I am rooting for Cara.

     

     
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    photo by Tech. Sgt. Manuel J. Martinez, U.S. Air Force/ DoD

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    photo by Behrouz Mehri AFP/Getty Images

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    photo by Christophe Simon /AFP/Getty Images

    See Rebecca Frankel's full war-dog photo essay here.

    Thank you Tim Quinlivan and my cousin, Clair "Answer Girl" Lamb for sending me this link.

  • Design*Sponge Dog Photos

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    Design*Sponge editor Amy Azzarito recently posted an excellent round up of 32 dog photos from designers' homes featured in their sneak peek series.  Here are a few of my favorites.  But they are all adorable. 

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    Click here to see them all.

  • Redwood Tree by Van Morrison

    It’s turned out to be a Van Morrison triple-play week after my friend Elizabeth of the beautiful blog,  a moon, worn as if it had been a shell, left me this comment on yesterday’s Van Morrison post:

    You want Veedon Fleece, too.  And have you ever listened to “Redwood Tree” about a boy and his dog — one of my favorite Van Morrison songs ever —

    No, Elizabeth, I had never listened to “Redwood Tree” and when I played it this morning with thunderstorms headed in over our Ponderosa Pines and my dog circling my feet looking for a cool spot, I burst into tears.  I am not sad.  The song just hit me in a powerful way.  I thought about this being Darby’s last home.  About me continuing to look for him, always.  I thought about this photo of my nieces, who refuse to stop growing up…

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    Layla and Sabrina and their new sandbox, 2010

    I looked up the lyrics to the song:

    Boy and his dog
    Went out looking for the rainbow
    You know what did they learn
    Since that very day.

    Walking by the river
    And running like a blue streak
    Through the fields of streams and meadows
    Laughing all the way.

    Oh redwood tree
    Please let us under
    When we were young we used to go
    Under the redwood tree.

    And it smells like rain
    Maybe even thunder
    Won’t you keep us from all harm
    Wonderful redwood tree.

    And a boy and his father
    Went out, went out looking for the lost dog
    You know what oh haven’t they learned
    Since they did that together
    They did not bring him back
    He already had departed
    But look at everything they have learned
    Since that, since that very day.

    Oh redwood tree
    Please let us under.
    When we were young we used to go
    Under the redwood tree.

    And it smells like rain
    Maybe even thunder
    Won’t you keep us from all harm
    Wonderful redwood tree.

    And I found these amazing photos here…

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    If you have never heard “Redwood Tree” either, here it is…

    Thanks, Elizabeth.  Have a happy weekend, everyone.  Take lots of photos.

  • Westminster Kennel Club Best in Show Winner to be Picked Tonight

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    Jackson the Chow Chow by Timothy A. Clary of AFP/Getty Images

    Hopefully you didn't miss last night's first round of judging at The 134 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.  Tonight they judge the Sporting, Working, and Terrier Groups, and select the Best in Show.   The show begins at 8pm ET on USA.   But it is shown time-delayed at 8pm to West Coast viewers.  Visit the WKC website for more information and highlights of last night's judging. 

    Boston.com has an excellent round up of behind the scenes photographs like the one above, and they continue to update images as the event unfolds.  Hat tip to my cousin Clair "Answer Girl" Lamb for sending me the link to these great shots.

    P.S. Will a Dachshund ever win the Hound Group in my lifetime?!!!

  • Thanksgiving Prep with Jesse Freidin and Pancake

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    (traveling doggie bowl from South Paw, Embarcadero)


    {Another wonderful guest post from San Francisco fine art photographer Jesse Freidin.}

    I'm allergic to standing in line, so I decided to take my better half (Pancake the Dog) with me as I browsed a few of my favorite local shops for Thanksgiving items. Pancake served as Quality Control when we got back to the studio, and says everything smells delicious. Guess we're ready to cook! — Jesse Freidin.

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    Squeak

    (turkey dog toy from Noe Valley Pet Co, Noe Valley)

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    So Many Chocolates

    (seasonal chocolates from: Miette, Hayes Valley)

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    Sniff

    (fresh organic wrapped salmon from Drewes Bros Meats, Noe Valley)

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    In The Pan

    (organic produce from Golden Produce, Castro)

    See more of Jesse Friedin's photography (and more of Pancake) here.

  • Awesome Jack-o-Lantern Dog Stencils

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    Courtesy of my mom from her friend Pat Sublette.  Download the stencils at Better Homes and Gardens (must sign in first).

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    Happy Halloween!

  • Picasso’s Other Dogs: The Afghans and The Boxer

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    Picasso and Kabul by David Douglas Duncan, 1959 or later    .

    When my friend Tom Turley sent me a link to photographs of Pablo Picasso and his Dachshund, Lump, by David Douglas Duncan, I almost didn't click on the link.  I thought I had seen them all.  Well, aside from finding a cache of new Lump photos (I will share in a later post), I also discovered that Picasso wasn't a one dog man.

    Yes, Lump the Dachshund is said to have been "the only animal Picasso took in his arms."  But clearly Picasso had a great fondness for other breeds too, especially Afghans.  As far as I can tell he owned three in his lifetime; Kabul, Kasbec, and Sauterelle.   Here are some photos.

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    Picasso and Kasbec.  Photographer unknown.   Via Afghan Hound Archives.

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    Picasso, Jacqueline Roque, and Kabul, 1962.  Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images via Jamd.

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    Kabul and Sauterelle by David Douglas Duncan, 1975.

    This last photo was taken two years after Picasso died.  Kabul's expression breaks my heart.  Duncan described him as spending "his last days gazing
    at the villa as though remembering those early years when he was constantly
    at the side of Picasso and Jacqueline."  He died shortly after this photograph was taken.

    I have yet to find any Afghans who made their way into Picasso's paintings, but many believe his 1967 sculpture in Chicago's Daley Plaza is actually Kabul's head.

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    Untitled, 1967

    Lump the Dachshund also shared Picasso with a Boxer named Jan, seen here in a staring contest outside their master's studio…

    …and a goat named Esmerelda, here tied to a statue of herself…

    I spent several hours on David Douglas Duncan's website.  His photos are extraordinary and the online exhibition is excellent.  Click here to visit it yourself.

  • Nina Berman Extended at Jen Bekman

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    Border Watcher with Dogs, Arizona and Mexico border, 2008


    Nina Berman's photo exhibit, Homeland, has been extended to November 29, 2008 at Jen Bekman's Gallery in NYC.  Through her photos, Berman set out to explore "the issues of militarism, security and identity in contemporary America" in a post 9-11 world. 

    In the shiny, happy post-election glow, the show is a sobering reminder of the deep-rooted aggression and glorification of war that fuels our country and defines us to ourselves and around the world.

    Information:

    6 spring street
    new york city 10012
    tel: 212.219.0166
    info@jenbekman.com

  • John Heartfield: Dogs + War

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    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.

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

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    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
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    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.

  • Jeff Koons Opens at Versailles

    Jeff Koons’s Let Them See Kitsch exhibition opens today at Versailles.  The installation of his works in the historic palace created controversy when it was announced this summer, and continues to offend.

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    Magenta (via Kathleen Anderson’s flickr site) in the…

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    …Salon d’Hercule.  Looks like…

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    …this.

    I am divided about the show.  I like the idea of contemporary art juxtaposed with “sacred symbols of heritage and identity,” but given that much of the $3 million project was funded by French billionaire, Francois Pinault, who owns more than a dozen of Koons’s works, I wonder if this is not just a way to juice the artist’s asking price. 

    And, quite frankly, I think if Koons doesn’t rein it in, his work will become the Golden Arches of the art world.  But I guess for an artist that is a high class problem.

    (Magenta in the Salon d’Hercule photo via AFP.  See more photos of the exhibition here.)