It’s a dog’s life: decorating with canine artwork

Man’s best friend has been a popular subject for artists – from hunting scenes and Baroque tableaux to commissioned portraits demonstrating wealth, status and affection for the canine companions of European High Society. In this blog post, I have rounded up some of my favourite interiors with canine paintings that prove they can be a timeless addition to any room of any kind.

Robert Kime

Brooke Astor and her canine art collection via AD. Billy Cunningham photography.

‘I started collecting paintings of dogs about 15 years ago. Dogs have always been a part of my life; I don’t believe I could survive without them. Inspired by their ever-loyal friendship, I started to adorn my walls with pictures of them. I chose works from the 19th century, mostly English, with a few Spanish and French, and have stuck to that. Queen Victoria, who was as sentimentally addicted to dogs as I am, had every one of her pets painted and her courtiers quickly followed her example. Thanks to that prolific period of dog lovers, I now have 74 dog pictures in the front hall and on the staircase wall of my house in the country. I have never bought a costly dog painting—say, by Stubbs—but I have Landseers, Herrings, Ackermanns, and so on. I have pictures of dogs tearing up a newspaper with a picture of Gladstone on it; dogs obviously adoring their masters, and carrying notes or slippers or gray top hats in their mouths; dogs mourning their masters; dogs sleeping or playing; and others simply posing. The dogs are my only really large collection, and the staircase was the right place for them, although they now also fill the upstairs hall.’  Brooke Astor, AD 1982

Oscar de la Renta Connecticut Home

A chalet in Gstaad by Jaime Parlade. Ricardo Labougle photography

Robin Birley London home via WSJ

Mario Buatta iconic Manhattan Apartment via AD.

A rustic folly by McWhirter Morris Interior Design

Katie Ridder client’s framed dog portraits create a mural-like effect on the walls of this country guest room. Eric Piasecki photography.

The charming home of Louise Townsend

Richard Keith Langham Trel Brok Photography

Le Jonchet, Hubert de Givenchy’s country home

@jonathangargiulo

Brian Woodcock