Welcome to the Week’s Review of Canine Social Media
- Welcome to this Special Feature on the DoggieU K9 Blog for an update on this week’s dog-related media and social media from around the world. There are so many stories. Here we will share some of the best stories this week.
Enjoy & share them.
Museum Uncovers Little Dog Hidden in Early Picasso Painting
Conservators at the Guggenheim Museum in New York have uncovered a small dog hidden beneath the surface of a Pablo Picasso painting.
It is/was a common practice for artists to paint over previous paintings and other types of artwork. Sometimes because art supplies were expensive other times because the concept or story that they wanted to communicate need to be modified or ‘deleted’ for another.
The image of a charming lapdog wearing a red bow was revealed by museum experts during a technical analysis of the Spanish artist’s painting “Le Moulin de la Galette” ahead of an exhibition of his early works.
Opened at the Guggenheim last week, the new show “Young Picasso in Paris” comprises 10 paintings and drawings made by Picasso upon his arrival in the French capital in 1900. “Le Moulin de la Galette” depicts a lively scene — a famous Parisian dance hall that was painted by other artists including Pierre-Auguste Renoir. A sea of couples are seen dancing in fine hats, rendered in quick brushwork, with three figures seated at a table in the foreground.
But studies ahead of the show, the art experts revealed a lively fourth guest at the table, covered up by a swath of dark paint. Conservators were able to generate an image of what the dog originally looked like using X-ray fluorescence, an imaging technique that maps out the chemical elements in a painting, including pigments, according to the Guggenheim’s senior paintings conservator. She also noted that “It was interesting to me that he hastily painted over this dog, which would have been a rather compelling aspect of the composition. The museum noted that the dog bears a close resemblance to a Cavalier King Charles spaniel. Though experts cannot say for certain why Picasso opted to remove the canine from the scene, but it was suggested that the painter might have considered its lively face and “enticing” bow too distracting. “It would have stolen the show,” she said, adding that covering up the dog allows viewers to “look more carefully at all of these other wonderful figures in the composition — to experience the space in different ways.”
Picasso made other changes to the work, including switching the gender presentations of a dancing couple and painting out an empty chair, according to the study. Modifying paintings later became part of Picasso’s regular practice. The “Le Moulin de la Galette” is now considered one of the earliest examples of this.
Here is the final painting.
[Link]
Speaking of Artists!!!
Here is an amazing Australian Shepherd who has taken up the hobby. Yes, her name is Secret and she paints better than many of us humans. She also does many other things, watch the video.
In addition to painting the entire canvas blue, the gifted Aussie then takes a different paint brush—this time loaded with green paint—and draws a long stem. Next, she adds yellow for the petals. Secret then places a red dot in the middle of the yellow painted petal area, followed by two green strokes representing leaves flanking the stem. Wow!
[Link]
Some wonderful dog situations from Social Media
Click to enlarge pics and for slide show view
[Link]