Behind every great artist is a four-legged muse begging for snacks and potentially shredding priceless canvases. Many iconic artists had beloved dogs who were part of their creative lives and sometimes even appeared in their work. The tradition continues today, with plenty of creatives saying their studios would be incomplete without their pets.
While some exceptions exist, dachshunds are the winners for artists’ favourite dogs. While Frida Kahlo preferred the Mexican Xoloitzcuintli dogs, a significant number of other artists were obsessed with sausage dogs, and relied on them for comfort and inspiration.
Frida Kahlo and her Xoloitzcuintli dogs
Kahlo adored her hairless Mexican dogs, especially one named Mr Xolotol. They appeared in several of her paintings, including The Love Embrace of the Universe, the Earth (Mexico), Myself, Diego and Señor Xólotl (1949) and the famed Self-Portrait with Small Monkey (1945).
In Mexican culture, dogs were thought to guide souls to the afterlife. Kahlo loved this mystical connection to her Mexican culture and always kept them by her side.
Pablo Picasso and his dog Lump
Picasso’s sausage dog Lump (pronounced ‘loomp’) was the artist’s shadow. Lump had his own plate at Picasso’s table, and outlasted many of Picasso’s human relationships. Picasso painted Lump into his reworkings of Las Meninas (1957). The artist was rarely seen without his companion.
David Hockney and his dog days
Hockney was obsessed with his two dachshunds, Stanley and Boodgie. In 1995, he painted an entire series just for them, named Dog Days. Hockney said that painting them was a meditation on loyalty, love and fleeting life. He adored Stanley and Boodgie, setting up special spaces for them in his studio.
Andy Warhol’s social dogs
Warhol was devoted to his two dachsunnds, Archie and later Amos. Archie was the most famous, going everywhere in Warhol’s dense social life. When Warhol didn’t feel like answering a journalist’s questions, he would simply reply: “Ask Archie”. Archie and Amos appeared in several of Warhol’s famed artworks.
