The Amazing Adventures of Archibald Esq.
Houndish Salt of Wisdom
Houndish wit and wisdom - evidently alive and well on the streets of Paris.
This bowler-hat wearing dachshund surely is the bees-knees!
SuperWoof to Parisian dachshunds!
Awoof! Archie
Posted 17 Nov 08
Punch’s Propaganda
Political cartoon from the Punch magazine, London, during World War I (published on-line by the Gutenberg Project).
Imperial Dachshund: “Here I’ve been sitting up and doing tricks for the best part of seven weeks, and you take no more notice of me than if—”
Uncle Sam: “Cut it out!”
Ggrrwooof!
Awoof! Archie
Posted 09 Nov 08
Oktoberfest & an old American Postcard
I thought this amusing postcard would be just the thing to celebrate Oktoberfest — a celebration of all things beer and sausage. Although the image here is American as opposed to the traditional German Oktoberfest image, it nevertheless is fitting, as it evokes industrialisation…
Posted 08 Oct 08
Truth is Elsewhere, Awoof!
To my rather biased eye, this bit of street art appears to feature a snazzy, serpentine sausage dog.
Along with, say, a rather more angular Yorkshire terrier. Or something of the like.
Read on…
Posted 09 Sep 08
Rebecca Nichols Assemblages & Acrylics
Obviously a talented spirit, in amongst her ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ one finds an acrylic of Sirius, the dog star.
SuperWoof to Rebecca! SuperWoof to the Dog Days of Summer!
Awoof! Archie
Posted 30 Jul 08
Pickles’ Pause for Thought
SuperWoof to Pickles!
Awoof! Archie
Posted 09 Jul 08
Craigie Aitchison’s Hot Hound
Sadly, due to copyright restrictions and prickly gallery managers, the image previously posted on this small dog blog page has been removed. May I recommend that curious hounds do image searches in major gallery collections such as the National Gallery, London, and the Tate Modern.
Craigie Aitchison is a Scottish painter. After studying Law Aitchison attended the Slade School of Fine Art in London (1952–4). His work is characterized by the use of intense, pure colour to describe shape and form in extremely spare compositions.
Posted 28 Jun 08
Attractive Portrait of a Dog
Adolphe Monticelli (1824-1886) probably executed this attractive and strikingly modern portrait of two women with a dog between 1870-90.
Notice how the dog is the focus of the painting: both women are looking down towards him. Here the dog is the focus of the portrait.
In swift and confident brushstrokes two women are seen standing with a dog in what seems to be a park setting. The paint is richly applied, and has the quality of embroidery - it is dimensional and warm.
Read on…
Posted 16 Jun 08
Jean-Léon Gérôme’s Hounds
Jean-Léon Gérôme’s The Negro Master of the Hounds is a truly handsome painting - of hounds and human alike.
Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824 – 1904) was a French painter and sculptor who resisted the counter-revolutionary movements of Impressionism, choosing instead to continue to develop and conserve the style of French neo-classicism. He produced many works in a historical, Orientalist style, and is said to have brought the French Empire tradition to an artistic climax.
Today his work is probably remembered most in ‘art cards’ — featuring such iconic images as Pygmalion and Galatea. Perhaps this is because of the ‘orientalism’ of his work. Which really says more about today’s sensitivities than it does about his own time. Woof! And it’s worth recalling that his painting touched on many areas that are ’sore’ or ‘touchy’ today — such as the slave trade, including a striking image of women being auctioned off at a ‘harem market.’
Read on…
Posted 04 Jun 08
Happy June Awoof!
Happy June one and all! May the sunny days be plentiful, and may the rainy days bring brightly coloured rainbows!
SuperWoof!
Archie
Posted 03 Jun 08
Hogarth’s Pugs
William Hogarth is often hailed as the quintessentially English artist of the eighteenth century.
Hogarth had the ability and the stamina to challenge the status quo of art’s exclusive link to ’society’. He portrayed not only the toffs but their hangers-on, retainers and servants, tradesmen and workmen, pimps and whores, beggars and destitute.
An engraver, he saw that prints of his paintings would be more affordable across a wide social range. Indeed, they sold well throughout Britain and the colonies. It is fair to guess that by the middle of the century most literate Virginians would at least have recognized his name.
Posted 17 May 08
The Art of the Chase
The 14th century French nobleman Gaston Phoebus declared that he “delighted all my days in three things. The one is arms, the next is love, and the other is hunting.” True to his humble houndish heart he added modestly that “There have been far better masters of the two former than I am.”
An expert hunter, Phoebus wrote the detailed manuscript “Le Livre de la Chasse.” Dedicated to his fellow sportsman Philip the Bold, the Duke of Burgundy, and later owned by King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella, it became popular throughout Continental Europe and England and was widely translated under the title “Master of the Game.”
Read on…
Posted 12 May 08
Happy Spring
This sweet old fashioned postcard features a dapper dog and a darling girl, both of whom bear spring flowers — bluebells and lilac by the look of it.
SuperWoof to Spring!
Awoof! Archibald, Esq.
Posted 22 Apr 08
Spratts Stylish Advertising
Now this is how to advertise a stylish dog food!
Awoof!
Archibald, Esq.
Posted 18 Apr 08
Dog Art: Gerard Ter Borch II (1617 - 1681)
Gerard Ter Borch II was a Dutch painter, and was the son of a painter. Gerard went to England in 1635, to Italy in 1640, and in 1648 to Münster, Westphalia, where he painted his celebrated Swearing of the Oath of Ratification of the Treaty of Münster (1648, National Gallery, London), marking the recognition of Dutch independence. From 1648 to 1651 Ter Borch lived in Madrid.
Despite extensive foreign travel, Gerard remained a painter of Dutch family life. He worked in the realistic tradition of Frans Hals, Jan Vermeer, and other Dutch painters, with careful attention to lighting and the rendering of fabric. Gerard produced charmingly realistic portraits and small, intimate genre scenes. This one of a boy ridding his dog of fleas could be seen as a study in browns, and seems a far cry from the stark lines and dazzling light of Vermeer’s work.
Gerard Ter Borch II. A Boy Ridding His Dog of Fleas. c. 1665. Oil on canvas. Alte Pinakothek, Munich, Germany.
Posted 12 Mar 08
Folk Art Dogs from Dog Bark Park, Idaho
Dog Bark Park in Cottonwood, Idaho (US of A) is the place to go for dog-shaped chainsawn wood carvings! Each carved canine comes with a brass license tag and red neckerchief.
All dogs are individually carved and hand-painted. These chainsaw dogs are made from Idaho ponderosa pine.
Read on…
Posted 05 Mar 08
Bonnard images
Bonnard was a guy after the heart of my hearts. He adored his woman. And his dachshunds. From start to finish.
Posted 29 Feb 08
Carlo Carrà’s Dog Painting
This painting was done by Carlo Carrà, an influential Italian painter, in 1926. His style is often referred to as ‘metaphysical painting.’ Carrà (1881— 1966) was an Italian painter, a leading figure of the Futurist movement that flourished in Italy during the beginning of the 20th century.
Read on…
Posted 14 Jan 08
©2008 Roleta Archibald, Awoof!™