The Dog's Gaze - A Visual History

Dogs have been ubiquitous in the worldmaking of visual artists as far back as the Palaeolithic age. Looking across the western tradition, from Giotto to Goya and Rubens to Rego, Laqueur shows what their presence - as hunting partners, beloved friends and even conduits to the afterlife - reveals about our own ways of seeing and how we want to be remembered. Far from being mere motifs, dogs are an integral and intentional element of the images in which they appear: they provide narrative coherence; they look out and bear witness, often on the artist''s behalf; they illuminate our understanding of morality and melancholy and some, like us, become celebrities. Indeed, as the author shows, dogs in art are our social doppelgangers, our companions in looking and being.

Richly illustrated and lovingly written,

Product details

• Authors: Thomas W Laqueur, Laqueur Thomas W.
• Publisher: Allen Lane
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 07.05.2026
• EAN: 9780241729083
• ISBN: 978-0-241-72908-3
• No. of pages: 400
• Dimensions: 156 mm x 240 mm x 40 mm
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Art history; ART / Subjects & Themes / Plants & Animals, ART / History / General, History of art / art & design styles, History of Art, Social and cultural history, Dogs as pets, Animals in the arts, art history; architecture; art books; arts; feminism