Animals as Pets
Animals provide humans with companionship and love. We allow them into our lives and they become part of our families. The pets we keep can range from dogs and cats to rabbits and guinea pigs, from goldfish and budgies to the more exotic such as pet spiders, snakes or lizards. Like any animals, pets make a popular but more intimate subject matter for artists who embed their work with sentimentality and affection. Look at the following artworks that feature people and their pets;
•Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez
•The Artist's Wife and His Setter Dog, ca. 1884-89 by Thomas Eakins
•Aux Pavillons à Cricqueboeuf , 1913 and Interior at Saint-Jacut, 1909 by Edouard Vuillard
•Dynamism of a Dog on a Leash, 1912, Giacomo Balla
•Girl with a Black Cat, 1910 by Henri Matisse
•Dora Maar au Chat (Dora Maar with Cat), 1941 and Boy with a Dog, 1905 by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. Picasso loved dogs and proved it by painting his charming dachshund Lump into a series of his paintings.
•Artist Lucien Freud loved dogs and did a series of works of a dog named Eli that was related to his pet whippet Pluto. Look at Eli, 2002, Eli and David, 2005 and Double Portrait, 1985-1986
•Artist David Hockney’s two dachshunds , Stanely and Boodgie, are immortalised in his portraits of them. Look at Dog Painting 17, 1995, Stanley, 1990 and Stanley, 1993.
The following selection of paintings show works that feature pets.
What animal would you like as a pet? CLICK on the images below to find out more!
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