Dogs in the SLAM collection, in honor of Dog Days of Summer

Dogs in art date back centuries. They appear in everything from ancient vessels to contemporary paintings, reflecting their importance across history. Below, we’ve rounded up some works featuring furry friends both on view in galleries and available to browse in the online collection.

Want to see more dogs at the Museum? Stop by Dog Days of Summer, a SLAM event for furry friends and their families on August 14.

In Deep Thought

This work by Belgian painter Alfred Stevens depicts a woman in an elegant pink dress while her pet dog sits nearby. The scene takes place at the port of Le Havre in northern France. Stevens, a good friend of French artists Édouard Manet and Edgar Degas, often painted scenes of fashionable modern life like this one.

This painting is on view in Alice and Fred Conway Gallery 217.

On the Ice Near Dordrecht

In this painting by Dutch artist Jan van Goyen, citizens of the city of Dordrecht engage in various winter activities. The center of the painting features a man lying on the ice in front of a dog. Other figures move across the ice in sleighs or on skates, adding to the bustling winter scene.

Basel with the Rhine

A man and a woman stroll arm and arm on a pier near a furry friend in this painting by German artist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Using vibrant lilac, teal, and salmon-pink colors, Kirchner captured the medieval buildings and riverbank of Basel, Switzerland, after visiting the city in 1927. “Color is the main appeal of my pictures,” Kirchner wrote about his art from this period.

This painting is on view in Caro Nichols Holmes Gallery 214.

The Greyhounds of the Comte de Choiseul

Dogs take center stage in this painting by French artist Gustave Courbet. Two greyhounds appear against a seashore with a light blue ocean in the background. Courbert, a noted animal painter, often represented animals with human emotions, as seen in the posture and expressions of these dogs. Their aristocratic bearing reflects their owner, the Count de Choiseul, who commissioned the dogs’ portrait.

This painting is on view in Pauline Gehner Mesker Gallery 205.

Dog and Serpent

A more aggressive side of man’s best friend is seen in this painting by Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo. The piece features a short dog baring its teeth at a snake within an abstract, rocky landscape. The struggle between two wild animals in the painting symbolizes the violence occurring in Europe during World War II, when Tamayo created the work.

This painting is on view in Mae M. Whitaker Gallery 212.

Model of a House with Figurines

Architectural clay models were common in Nayarit culture in 300 BCE. This work features a house with figurines, including a dog lying in a small entrance. The scene may have had a symbolic function, as elite society members in West Mexico often placed their deceased ancestors in shaft tombs with sculptures of humans and animals.

This piece is on view in Morton D. May and Louis D. Beaumont Foundation Gallery 114.

Vessel in the Form of a Sleeping Dog

Merchants in Teotihuacan often imported and exported vessels like this one between 250 BCE and 600 CE. This thin vessel featuring a sleeping dog was made from special orange clay prized by traders and ceramicists. Dogs and dog-shaped vessels were often included in Teotihuacan burials, reflecting the animals’ place as important members of the household.

This piece is on view in Morton D. May and Louis D. Beaumont Foundation Gallery 114.

Girl with a Dog

American artist Frank Weston Benson based this painting on his daughter Sylvia and her dog Togo. The work shows Sylvia and Togo in rural New England, where Benson and his family vacationed during the summers. Benson painted many works en plein air, or directly outside, in Maine.

This painting is on view in Anheuser-Busch Foundation Gallery 335.

Attachment

This painting by English artist Sir Edwin Henry Landseer illustrates Sir Walter Scott’s poem “Helvellyn,” about a faithful dog that guarded her owner’s body after he fell while mountain climbing. Landseer brings the scene to life through lively contrasts of light and shadow.

This painting is on view in Pauline Gehner Mesker Gallery 205.

Growing Up in the Company of Women II

This painting by American artist Eric Fischl consists of three overlapping panels. Notably, a dalmatian runs through the middle panel on a lush green lawn. A boy is poised to throw a stick on a third panel, perhaps for the dog to catch.

Censer in the Form of Two Puppies

This small earthenware vessel by Japanese artist Nagami Iwao IV was used to burn incense in the 18th century. Known for his realistic animal figurines, Iwao created these playful puppies based on animals seen in paintings by fellow Japanese artists Maruyama Okyo and Nagasawa Rosetsu.