The Curatorial Backlogs #5 : Portraits of Dogs : From Gainsborough to Hockney

Artist : Various

Show : Portraits of Dogs : From Gainsborough to Hockney

Location : Wallace Collection : London, England

Date Seen:  11 April 2023

Price: £14

Run Time: 29 March 2023 - 15 October 2023

Sponsors: 

• HM Government Indemnity Scheme

• Bilbo and Fredi Bloomberg

• Christian Levett

• Kate de Rothschild Agius, Marcus Agius CBD and Sable

• The Alexander P.S. McKeon Charitable Foundation

• Danny and Gry Katz

• Jessica Pulay 

• Ivetta Rabinovich

• Tavolozza Foundation

• The A&O New Change Group

• Rovert de Rothschild

• The Anson Charitable Trust

• The Dr. Lee MacCormick Edwards Charitable Foundation

Curators: Xavier Bray, assisted by Alexander Collins

“The Dog is the most faithful Animal in the World, and beloved by Men” 

– Caesar Ripa, 1709

The Wallace Collection produced the first ever show entirely centered around dogs and how important they are to humans. The Show is broken down into 8 sections and spread across several rooms within the Wallace Collection in the Basement. You must purchase a ticket to view the show, so it is sectioned off within the museum. The exhibition shows paintings, sculptures, drawings, and even taxidermy in an attempt to highlight the bond and devotion between humans and dogs. Showcased are formal finished portraits of dogs from Britain both old (17th century) and new (21st century). There are over 50

works included in the show. 

Notes:

• There are 8 sections within the show, wall color changes throughout the exhibition in the different rooms. Not all sections have their own room, thus some share a wall color. 

  • Drawn From Life - Maroon Walls 

  • Aristocratic Dogs - Maroon Walls

  • Allegorical Dogs - Gray Walls

  • Toy Dogs - Teal Walls

  • Artist Dogs - Blue Walls

  • Royal Dogs - Blue Walls

  • After Death - Blue Walls 

  • David Hockney’s Dogs - Red Walls

• The flow/layout of the space was not good. The doors were heavy and opened inward to the gallery, often hitting people as they stopped to read the intro text which was on the wall next to the doors. This led to traffic jams as people tried to get by but had nowhere to go if they wanted to read the information. 

• The lighting was very low with spotlights on pieces. This paired with the dark jewel toned walls and crowds of people created very claustrophobic environments at times. For Example, some works were located in small annexes in the blue walled areas - these annexes were a tight squeeze with low ceilings and very poor flow of people as they came in to look at 2 or 3 works and then tried to work their way out of the annex again. 

•  The exhibition was overcrowded and congested. Seeing as the tickets were timed and limited per day, the museum could have done with allowing less tickets available to attempt to control crowd flow. The audience of the Wallace Collection tends to be elderly folks visiting. Due to decreased speed and limited mobility, I think this may have also led to more congestion within the gallery. I think this show was also aimed towards younger crowds to bring them into the Wallace Collection, there were many kids as well.

• There was a free audio guide available for use. Those that used the guides tended to stay with pieces longer (again inhibiting good movement of people through the space)

• The exhibition utilized a traditional arrangement of materials in a classic gallery style in that it hosted painting on the walls, pedestals/vitrines for sculptural works and plaques right next to each work. Even the works featured were works that maintained the use of traditional fine art materials. The works used oil paints, drawings, marble sculptures, and even expensive broaches. This exhibition featured many old classical style paintings of dogs, felt very well situated within the Wallace Collection.

• The exhibition was very British centered - taking on a British oriented lens and strictly looking at dogs through British history and significant people in England. The exhibition focused on the high art/high brown view catered to the aristocratic/elite British population. The show didn’t take on a multi-socio-economic viewpoint or a worldwide view.  Had the exhibition taken on a worldwide view of dogs it likely would have been much larger. This exhibition did not explore the different ways people look at dogs, or the significance/insignificance that dogs have all over the world. 

• Amusing that Hockney - a significant person in British Art culture of recent times - had an entire room full of his art with his dogs. This room was the closing room of the exhibition and came only two sections after Royal dogs. In many ways this highlights Hockney’s importance in British Culture. Also interesting to note that his incorporation in this exhibition occurred at the same time as his own immersive show at The Lightroom.