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Premiere: Kings of Pastry
Directed by Chris Hegedus and D A Pennebaker
Fri, Oct 29 5:00 PM Fri, Oct 29 7:00 PM Sat, Oct 30 1:00 PM Sat, Oct 30 7:00 PM Sun, Oct 31 1:00 PM
 more info
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Best in Show: The Dog in Art from the Renaissance to Today
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On view Sunday, October 1, 2006 - Monday, January 1, 2007 at the Audrey Jones Beck Building
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George Stubbs, Brown and White Norfolk or Water Spaniel, 1778
Yale Center for British Art; Paul Mellon Collection
Dogs are a common visual motif in Western art and have been called the "artist´s best friend" for their role as companion and life model. Best in Show: The Dog in Art from the Renaissance to Today features some of the finest images of man´s best friend by distinguished and renowned painters, sculptors, and photographers, as well as exceptional works by lesser-known but equally inspired artists.
Best in Show presents truly great images of dogs by such pioneers of the subject as Jacopo Bassano and Titian in the Renaissance, Gerrit Dou and Frans Snyders in the Baroque period, and the brilliant 18th-century masters Alexandre-François Desportes, Jean-Baptiste Oudry, and George Stubbs; powerful and emotive 19th-century dogs by Rosa Bonheur and Constant Troyon, as well as several examples by perhaps the greatest of all dog painters, Sir Edwin Landseer; and 20th-century and contemporary works by Jean-Léon Gérôme, Duane Hanson, Jeff Koons, Andy Warhol, and Andrew Wyeth. Though unapologetically designed to entertain and divert, the exhibition at the same time seeks to reveal both the high artistic standards the subject has sustained and how this recurrent theme functions in the history of art.
This exhibition explores the use of dog imagery to illustrate major cultural and social concerns in Western culture. Through the nobility and drama of the hounds of the hunt in Renaissance and Baroque art; the cozy domesticity of Dutch mutts and the pampered luxury of French Rococo and Impressionist lapdogs; the studied modernity of animals of the Machine Age and the febrile angst of Expressionism´s curs; the wit and irony of canine imagery in the eras of Pop, Postmodernism, and their aftermath, dogs have always taken their place beside and often in place of people.
Best in Show demonstrates how humankind not only projected anthropomorphic sentiments upon the most favored and domesticated of creatures but also repeatedly turned to the dog as an inexhaustibly mutable emblem of each new age. Since antiquity, dogs have romped through the history of art, often appearing as incidental background motifs, part of a hunting scene, religious, mythological, or allegorical composition, or beside their masters in portraits. Here, however, the dog takes center stage in an exhibition that follows the development of the theme of canis familiaris for almost five centuries in painting, sculpture, photography, and video.
It is a testament to how closely humans live with dogs that this animal can tell the story of art more eloquently than any other animal. Whether indoor or outdoor pets, guardians of life´s parameters or closeted domestic creatures, fierce or fawning companions, dogs through their unrivaled proximity to humans have come to embody a remarkably wide spectrum of values and emotions. And as any dog owner will attest, they also honor with unquestioned acceptance the bond with their human companions, yet possess preternatural qualities that we can scarcely fathom. If there is any truth to the old adage about people coming to resemble their dogs, it is built upon the mirrored idiosyncrasies of two inseparable but individual lives. You are sure to enjoy this parade of dogs through the centuries.
This exhibition has been organized by the Bruce Museum, Greenwich, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Generous funding is provided by:
The Samuel H. Kress Foundation
Gracie and Bob Cavnar
Linda K. Finger
Nanette and Jerry Finger
Meg Goodman and Michael Bonini
Windi and David Grimes
Jeanie S. Kilroy
Nancy and Rich Kinder
Cornelia and Meredith Long
Shelly Ann and I.W. Marks
Kathi Mosbacher
Mica and Bob Mosbacher
Chris and Don Sanders
Sue and Lester Smith
Sara Paschall Dodd-Spickelmier and Keith Spickelmier
Related Events:
Creation Station: Every Dog has its Day
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building
Sunday, November 26, 2006 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Explore the MFAH: Best in Show: The Dog in Art from the Renaissance to Today
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building
Saturday, October 7, 2006 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Saturday, October 14, 2006 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Saturday, October 21, 2006 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Saturday, October 28, 2006 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Explore the MFAH: Best in Show: The Dog in Art from the Renaissance to Today
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building
Saturday, December 2, 2006 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Explore the MFAH:Best in Show: The Dog in Art from the Renaissance to Today
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building
Saturday, December 9, 2006 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Saturday, December 16, 2006 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Friday Afternoon Lectures
At the Caroline Wiess Law Building
Friday, September 29, 2006 1:30 PM
Friday, October 6, 2006 1:30 PM
Friday, October 20, 2006 1:30 PM
Lunchtime Tours at the MFAH: Best in Show: The Dog in Art from Renaissance to Today
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building
Friday, November 3, 2006 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Friday, November 10, 2006 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Friday, November 17, 2006 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Lunchtime Tours at the MFAH: Best in Show: The Dog in Art from the Renaissance to Today
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building
Thursday, October 5, 2006 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Thursday, October 12, 2006 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Thursday, October 19, 2006 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Thursday, October 26, 2006 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Lunchtime Tours at the MFAH: Best in Show: The Dog in Art from the Renaissance to Today
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building
Tuesday, December 5, 2006 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Tuesday, December 12, 2006 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Members Daytime Preview
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building
Saturday, September 30, 2006 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Members Preview Lecture
At the Caroline Wiess Law Building
Friday, September 29, 2006 6:00 PM
Members Preview Party
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building
Friday, September 29, 2006 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Saturday Afternoon Lectures
At the Caroline Wiess Law Building
Saturday, September 30, 2006 4:00 PM
Saturday, October 21, 2006 4:00 PM
Spotlight Tour: Best in Show: The Dog in Art from the Renaissance to Today
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building
Saturday, November 4, 2006 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
, 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Saturday, November 11, 2006 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
, 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Saturday, November 18, 2006 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
, 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Spotlight Tour: Best in Show: The Dog in Art from the Renaissance to Today
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building
Thursday, December 28, 2006 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Spotlight Tour:Best in Show: The Dog in Art from the Renaissance to Today
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building
Saturday, December 30, 2006 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Your Turn to Speak: Best in Show
At the Caroline Wiess Law Building
Friday, October 6, 2006 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
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