May 2024

• If you see a painting from the Middle Ages that includes dogs, it is because they symbolized the faith and loyalty of a married couple at the time.

• Dogs Playing Poker was painted by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge (1844-1934) in 1894. He followed up with a series of paintings in 1903 that were commissioned by Brown & Bigelow to advertise cigars, as well as an additional painting in 1910.

• Netsuke, which are Japanese miniature sculptures that serve a practical function, often depict dogs in hunting scenes.

Barbaro After the Hunt by Rosa Bonheur. image: Philadelphia Museum of Art

• French artist Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899) was considered to be the most famous female painter of the 19th century and was known for painting animals, including dogs. Her Portrait of a Greyhound Dog hangs in the Minneapolis Institute of Art and her Barbaro After the Hunt is in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Bonheur’s perseverance as a female artist opened doors for women who followed after her. She wore men's trousers - illegal at the time - because they were more practical when she worked with animals. She is remembered in the Rosa Bonheur Memorial Park, a pet cemetery in Elkridge, Maryland. 

The Dog by Francisco de Goya. image: Museo del Prado

• Some believe Francisco de Goya's painting The Dog, which shows the head of a dog gazing upwards, is a symbolic depiction of man's futile struggle against malevolent forces.