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  • Dog Art Today is devoted to daily dog art from around the world. Features include contemporary dog art, the history of dogs in art, dog art auctions, books, posters, fashion and decor. It's the perfect place to find an artist to paint, sculpt or photograph your pet. And there are lots of great gift ideas for the dog-lover in your life.

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May 13, 2008

Robert Rauschenberg's Dogs

Robert_rauschenberg_murmurs Murmurs, 1992

Robert Rauschenberg, one of our great American artists, died today at age 82.  He was a giant of the art world and will always be one of my favorites. 

Robert_rauschenberg_short_stories Page 10, Paragraph 3 (Short Stories), 2001

Robert_rauschenberg_lily_scent Lily Scent, 1981

Robert_rauschenberg_tibetan Tibetan Locks (Avenue), 1987


Images courtesy of Artnet.

Fast Boy's Girls in Bed Photo Shoot

Dog_photo_kisses Kisses

I discovered this beautiful cache of photos on Rebecca Collins's always inspiring Art Dog Blog.  See more of Fast Boy's Girls in Bed set on his Flickr site.  Note: some artistic nudity.

Dog_photo_no_shame No Shame

Dog_photos_up_early Getting up Early to go to the Patagonia Summer Sale

Dog_photo_some_girls Some Girls in Bed

Dog_photo_comfy Comfy

Dog_photo_do_not_feed Do Not Feed the Animals

May 12, 2008

Library of Congress Dogs

Vintage_dog_horse_photo Shepherd with his horse and dog on Gravelly Range, Madison County, Montana by Russell Lee, 1942

I'm featuring dog photography this week in honor of  the New York Photo Festival.  Did you know that the Library of Congress has started a Flickr photostream?  Here are a few dogs from their archives.

Beggars_dog_vintage_photo Beggar's Dog, Hoboken, between 1910 and 1915

Polish_strikers_photo Polish Strikers at N.Y. Mills, Utica, between 1910 and 1915

Catfish_shack_photo A Store with Live Fish for Sale, near Natchitoches, LA by Marion Post Wolcott, 1940

Vintage_photo_dog_kids Children in the Tenement District, Brockton, MA by Jack Delano, 1940

Vintage_pekingese_girl_photo Tanis Guinness & Ta Wang, 1910

May 11, 2008

Happy Mother's Day!

Ohio_state_fair_2

Thanks, Mom...

For letting me pick out the blue hat with the feather that's almost as tall as I am.
For making me this adorable fish dress and showing me that creativity is best the best designer label.
For understanding my need for a designer label in junior high and buying me the pale pink Ralph Lauren polo shirt.
For letting me stand on my own two feet in this photo and in life, but keeping your are around me just in case.
For making a great new life in Ohio when you were a NY gal.
For wearing this Pucci-esque dress to the Great Geauga Fair and bringing NY style with you.
For finding your way into this photo, a rare one, since you're the one always behind the camera.
For saving my artwork.
For faithfully reading my blog each day.
For being a great mom.

Love, Moira

May 10, 2008

Picasso & Lump

Picasso_lump_1
I've never seen this amazing (though a bit blurry) photo before of Picasso and his beloved Dachshund, Lump.  He's said to be "the only dog Picasso took in his arms."  So cool.

Via The Long and Short of it All, a terrific blog for all things Dachshund.

Read more about Lump and his adventures with Picasso in David Douglas Duncan's book Picasso & Lump: A Dachshund's Odyssey.

May 09, 2008

Ted Benvenuti's Scrappy Dogs

Benvenuti_dog_sculpture_1 Galgos (Spanish Greyhounds)

Actually, nothing about these sleek handcrafted works of dog art is scrappy except for the fact that São Paulo artist Ted Benvenuti uses certifiably reforested Brazilian bentwood and carpentry shop leftovers to create them. 


Benvenuti_dog_sculpture_2 Rottweiler

Benvenuti_dog_sculpture_3 Labrador Retriever

Beyond their beauty, I love their individuality.  Like every dog I've ever met, their personalities are utterly distinct, even when comparing works within the same breed, like the Basset Hounds below.  Simply gorgeous!


Benvenuti_dog_sculpture_4 Basset Hound No. 1

Benvenuti_dog_sculpture_5 Basset Hound No. 2

Benvenuti_dog_sculpture_6 Basset Hound No. 3

Benvenuti_dog_sculpture_7 Basset Hound No. 4

Available exclusively at Conceito Firma Casa.  See more of Benvenuti's work here.

Via Cool Hunting.

May 08, 2008

Jelly Jelly Jelly All Jelly by Jack Butler Yeats

Jack_butler_yeats_jelly

This charming line drawing of a day at the Whippet races, Jelly Jelly Jelly All Jelly (c. 1900),  by preeminent Irish artist Jack Butler Yeats sold today at Christies London auction house for £17,300 ($33,994).  Honestly, I never knew about Jack, the brother of Nobel Prize winning poet William.  But it turns he was the first Irish painter to sell for over £1 million.  And, he is often credited with articulating "a modern Ireland of the 20th century, partly by depicting specifically Irish subjects, but also by doing so in the light of universal themes such as the loneliness of the individual, and the universality of the plight of man."

His father, Irish portraitist John Butler Yeats, also recognized his son's talents, stating "'Some day I will be remembered as the father of a great poet, and the poet is Jack."  Ouch…I wonder how that made William feel?

Here are some close ups of the lovely drawing of Irish dog enthusiasts.   

Jack_butler_yeats_jelly_2

The inscription reads, "Them dogs/is took more care of/than if they was going/ter come in for a million o money"

Jack_butler_yeats_jelly_3


Jack_butler_yeats_jelly_4


Jack_butler_yeats_5


Jack_butler_yeats_6

Source: Wikipedia.

See all the Irish Art for sale at Christies here.  It's very interesting to compare the work to what artists on the continent were doing at the same time.  Obviously, the Irish were preoccupied with their battle for their Republic in the early 20th century, but you can see the steps they're taking towards Modernism, albeit baby steps of a young country fighting for survival, not yet ready to focus on art.

May 07, 2008

Jennifer Kirk Hamilton: Dog Walker

Kirk_hamilton_dog_art_1 Moving Into Spring

Not really.  Jennifer Kirk Hamilton is actually a S.C based, award winning, neo-expressionist painter.  Her latest works are inspired by her two dogs and I think they are remarkable for many reasons.  I love her colors and the energy she captures in this series.  But mainly, I love that she looks at dogs as dogs. 

Kirk_hamilton_dog_art_2 Bad Little Dog

Many dog artists, myself included, obsess about getting our subjects' faces just right.  We want that joyful, playful, adoring expression we see when we look into our dogs' eyes.  But doesn't that make the work more about us?   Like Narcissus and his pool, we want our dog's full attention if we are going to do his portrait.  Right?

For Kirk Hamilton, it's not about the dogs; it's about the walk.  About being a silent observer as her boys investigate the world around them, oblivious to her.  Primal and curious, completely in the moment, exploring anew the path they take every day.  What an amazing way to capture them while at the same time allowing them to be free, walking off her canvas, not staying put.  How beautifully she reminds us that having a dog does not make us "owners."  It makes us part of the pack.

Kirk_hamilton_dog_art_3 Not Again Pooh

Kirk_hamilton_dog_art_4 Mysique

Kirk_hamilton_dog_art_5 Journeyman

Kirk_hamilton_dog_art_6 Mystery of the New

Visit her website to learn more.

May 06, 2008

The Sultan Dog Stool

Sultan_dog_stool

The designers at Ibride wanted people to bond with their furniture.  The Sultan Dog Stool does the trick.  Discovered by trend tracker Laura Sweet via NOTCOT.

Available at Design My World in red or black.  Darling and functional.  Love it!

May 05, 2008

Perro Aullando by Rufino Tamayo

Tamayo_howling_dog Perro Aullando by Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo, 1960

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Via Cascada.

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