Theres nothing like a stroll between Frieze London and Frieze Masters to clear the mind after all that art-world chatter in the fair aisles. The air is crisp, the leaves are yellowing and the pitter-patter of pooch paws is all around. But it is not only Regents Park that is home to cockapoos, maltipoos and labradoodles—the fairs are also getting their fair share of doggy love. We sought out the best in show.
Lucian Freud arguably painted his beloved whippets with much more affection and compassion than his human sitters. Eli and Pluto, Freuds other whippet, appear in many of his works, sometimes alongside his two-legged sitters. Though their slim physique might not suggest it, the breeds propensity to lounge decoratively for long periods makes them the perfect artists dog. This etching is one of an edition of 46.
This Hogarth self-portrait with his pug called Trump is “very rare”, says the dealer Andrew Edmunds. After making the etching, Hogarth reworked the plate and replaced his likeness with the image of a bear named Bruiser in a work lampooning the satirist Charles Churchill. He also added in a few extra details—as he often would when reworking plates—including a stream of urine trickling down on one of the writers works.
The 18th-century artist Jean-Baptiste Oudry famously painted Louis XVs hunting dogs, often in the presence of the king himself. The portraits of the royal hounds all have the animals names—such as Misse or Polydore—inscribed beneath them in gold. This female hunting dog, though, in her sky-blue collar, does not have a name and her owner is unknown. The portrait is “not sentimental” so appeals to a wider range of collectors, according to a gallery spokesman.
The term “black dog” to describe depression is usually associated with the former UK prime minister Winston Churchill but was used at least as far back as the 18th century by Samuel Johnson. Grayson Perrys ceramic work of the same name is about the “roots of depressioRead More – Source
