Artists and their Pets

Celebrated Spanish artist Pablo Picasso was an avid animal-lover and owned a small menagerie. His personal favorite was a dachshund named Lump, which means “rascal” in German. Picasso preferred to work in solitude and Lump was the only creature allowed into his studio. Remarked Picasso about Lump, “He’s not a dog, he’s not a little man, he’s somebody else”.

American Pop artist Andy Warhol and Archie, his dachshund, were inseparable. Archie often accompanied Warhol to his studio, art openings and restaurants. Warhol referred to Archie as his “alter ego” and would often deflect interviewer’s questions towards the dog if he didn’t want to answer.

British painter, print maker and photographer David Hockney was the human slave of two well-loved dachshunds, Stanley and Boodgie. The pair were immortalized in an exhibition entitled, “Dog Days” which featured 45 paintings of the pups. A reviewer of the exhibition declared, “Only the owner could have painted that”, pointing to the intimacy and love evident in the portraits.