Lesson 1 Best of Show: My Favorite Dogs

Portrait of Maria Frederikie van Reede-Athlone at Seven Years of Age by Jean-Etienne Liotard

    I think that this piece is fun to look at with the dog in mind. It is easy to miss the small dog in the corner because the rest of the painting is so beautiful. After you have admired the artistry of the painting your eyes drift to the black blob in the corner. This lap dog looks into your soul. I can't stop laughing when ever I look at him because he stares right at the viewer, fighting to be engaged with and not forgotten. I wonder if Maria brought her dog in one day to her portrait painting and asked for it to be painted with her. If that's true I wonder if her dog didn't like the painter, staring so intently at him. I'm sure there is a deeper meaning to the dog's presence in this work, but I prefer my version of the story. 

An illustration from The Book of Dogs Louis Agassiz Fuertes

    I really enjoy this piece because of the relationship it depicts the relationship between a dog and his boy. This huge dog is looking so lovingly at a man I assume is in his early 20's. This work exhibits trust and love between dog and boy. The dog is huge, easy dwarfing his master, but there is no malice in the dog's actions. Additionally the boy is happy embracing his dog as he jumps up to greet him. This work does a great job showing the emotion in the dog's face. I find this fascinating. It is hard to depict emotion well in a nonhuman face, but Fuertes is able to capture it so clearly. This piece is a great show of a loving relationship between dogs and humans.