Dogs and Cats - Joan Brown

The 1st Car, 1971

The Birthday Party, 1971.

Portrait of a Dog, 1971

Birthday Party detail

Joan Brown did a lot of paintings with her pets as well as many portraits of animals. There are animals featured in many of her paintings... here are just a few and a quote from Joan, herself.

"I strive for that delicate balance between reason and feeling, knowing that sometimes the pictures will lean one way or the other. I'm constantly trying to pull out new information from my intuitive self, which results in the surprises that I discover in my work, and which keeps me ever stimulated." Joan Brown (from the book, The Art of Joan Brown by Tsujimoto and Baas.)

The Bath

The Bath, (detail) Marilyn A. Burkhardt. Etching approx 11 x 11 in.

I love this image, a nice bath in an old claw foot tub with a big dog at her side just as relaxed as the bather. It has hung in my bathroom for many moons. Marilyn Burkhardt has a little website here: http://www.marilynburkhardt.com/ . There are not any etchings that I could find, but sculptures, a charming book, paintings and classes to take if you are near the Oregon coast! Enjoy.

Fido in Art

Venus of Urbino, Titian. 1538 Oil on Canvas, Uffizi, Florence

In Venus... There is a little dog laying at her feet whis is called a "pendant" or balancing figure. The dog may have been a pet popular with the upper classes, other than being a 'pendant' for this composition, this dog is pure ornament!

Triumph of Death by Francesco Traini mid 14th century, Fresco Camposanto, Pisa.
Dogs depicted in paintings through the ages have represented many things, most often it is fidelity and loyalty. In contrast to the Venus of Urbino, in this painting, Triumph of Death, the dogs are hunting dogs, owned by the wealthy, lavishly dressed people who discover rotting corpses. There is a woman on a horse on far left who is cradling a sleeping pet with a hand on her chest, eyes closed as if she can't deal with the scene. The plauge was killing people by the thousands during this time. Dogs were a symbol of fidelity as they were 'always there' and were often the only companions survivors of the plauge had left in such devistating times.

The stereotype doggie name, 'Fido' came from 'fidelio' or fidelity... there's a good reason he's been dubbed man's best friend!