Every dog has a special place

New York – Dogs play cameo roles in some of the West’s most iconic paintings, yet man’s best friend has arguably received short shrift in the global museum hierarchy.

But a museum addition in Manhattan restores the animals to what canine afficionados will no doubt view as their rightful place at the centre of the picture.

The American Kennel Club’s (AKC) Museum of the Dog, which opened yesterday in midtown Manhattan, contains a smorgasbord of works of varying aesthetic ambition, along with interactive displays.

The museum’s opening has been timed to coincide with the start of Westminster Week, an annual midwinter canine festival that attracts dogs and dog-lovers from around the world and culminates with the Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday night and the selection of best in show at Madison Square Garden.

The collection comprises more than 2 000 paintings, photos, sculptures and artifacts and includes a healthy supply of works that document what the ancestors of today’s pets looked like in the 19th century and earlier. These include the skeleton of “Belgrade Joe”, a Fox Terrier that died in 1888 and is seen as a seminal figure in that breed’s evolution.

Some works are photograph-like depictions of breeds that will appeal to dog-showing professionals.

“They look at the painting as they would a show dog and they critique it that way – by the anatomy, the way it’s built and so forth. There’s nothing about how it was rendered or anything like that,” said Alan Fausel, the museum’s executive director, who specialised in canine art with private auction houses before being hired to lead the museum in 2018.

“The average person will be interested in things that have some action, some activity, some narrative content,” added Fausel, who wants the museum to satisfy both the show dog industry professional and the everyday visitor.

Paintings of dogs evolved from pre-Victorian depictions that emphasised carnal aggression, to 19th century portraiture to 20th century works that anthropomorphise the creatures once photography largely obviated more naturalistic works, according to Fausel.

The museum itself dates to 1982 when it was first established in New York before relocating in 1987 to St Louis, where it stayed for 37 years in the sleepy outskirts of the midwestern city.

The move to New York, which is home to myriad collections ranging from the Museum of Sex to the Tenement Museum to the Metropolitan Museum and other prestigious attractions, gives the collection more prominence. Its location near Grand Central Station hopes to attract foot traffic.

“It’s great to show the collection that had been languishing in obscurity,” said Fausel. “It’s also great to tell people who the AKC is and what we do.” –