Dogs Know How To Play

"Dogs Know How to Play" by Joan Baldwin (28"x36" oil)
"Dogs Know How to Play" by Joan Baldwin (28"x36" oil)

The title says it all!

I stumbled on this utterly delightful painting  at the Kingston Gallery in Boston’s South End. The artist, Joan Baldwin, has captured  a “decisive moment” in the tradition of Henri Cartier-Bresson. She told me it was inspired by a visit to a park in Eastham on outer Cape Cod with her son’s dog, Lucy (a rescue dog). I love the way the composition conveys the unalloyed joy and athleticism of the dog’s upward leap, and how the sinuous line of the loose leash pulls the viewer’s eye back down to the ground, anticipating the dog’s imminent descent. The bright red accents of the leash and the ball  inject a dash of canine-cayenne to the cool greens of the marsh grass.

The painting is part of Baldwin’s “Sit & Be” exhibit, on view through Sunday, April 29. The gallery will hold a closing reception on Saturday, April 28, from 4-6 pm. The Kingston Gallery is located at 450 Harrison Avenue #43, and is open Wednesday through Sunday, 12-5 pm.

 

Please note: The image here is from a photo I took on my iPhone, so please allow for slight variations from the original artwork. Better yet, go see the original and other charming paintings by Baldwin in her show at the Kingston Gallery!

Hounds and Gowns at the MFA

Mary and Elizabeth Royall, by John Singleton Copley (MFA, Boston)
Mary and Elizabeth Royall, by John Singleton Copley (MFA, Boston)

On a recent visit to the Museum of Fine Arts, I was drawn to two delightful American paintings featuring (what else?) dogs. Created 225 years apart, one is a double portrait of two girls (and a dog) by the Neoclassical master John Singleton Copley; the other is also a double portrait (of the artist’s wife and their dog) by Scott Prior, a contemporary photo realist painter from Northampton.

Copley’s Mary and Elizabeth Royall (c. 1758, oil, 57-3/8’ x 48-1/8”) pictures the beautiful young daughters of a wealthy colonial merchant, Isaac Royall, Jr. The painting’s formal composition includes an elfin Cavalier King Charles spaniel nestled in the billowing folds of Elizabeth’s silk dress. The dog gazes up with the puppy-eyed devotion synonymous with the breed. Or, perhaps his plaintive expression beseeches the girl: “Please, get rid of the itchy flower garland around my neck!” Continue reading “Hounds and Gowns at the MFA”