It is difficult to think of many other books that are at once so brilliant, so wonderfully entertaining, and so moving. I savoured every page and lingered over every illustration. It turns out that a dogs eye view gives us unique access to some of the deepest longings, needs, and creative powers of our own species. The Dogs Gaze is full of exuberant insights about our canine friends, about art, and about the human condition -- Stephen Greenblatt In this beautiful book, Laqueur shows that dogs are everywhere in our lives and our art -- Sally Mann The Dogs Gaze: A Visual History is a treasure trove of fascinating material. There could be no more congenial and erudite guide than Professor Laqueur through centuries of artwork from ancient times to 20th-century America and beyond. Each dog portrait is both unique and emblematic: the dog as a companion of aristocrats, and of the common man; the dog at the periphery of human activity, and the dog as a measure of morality; the dog alone, in extremis, a mirror of human loneliness. We see in these richly varied depictions of our most faithful animal companion something of the evolution of our own humanity but most profoundly we see the dog as a creature of infinite beauty, irresistible to generations of artists. -- Joyce Carol Oates A splendid blend of histories: natural, cultural, and artistic . . . [ A] sprawling examination of dogs in the history of art, from Neolithic cave paintings to present-day photographs and paintings . . . In a book filled with image after image of dogs in all sorts of artistic contexts, Laqueur provides other meaningful interpretations of the dog as a religious symbol, an avatar of the good home, a hunting companion, a faithful friendand, in one terrifying instance, as a hellhound chasing runaway enslaved people. Laqueur spins fine anecdotes, such as one concerning Pablo Picassos beloved dachshund, Lump, of whom the artist remarked, 'Hes not a dog, hes not a little man, hes somebody else;' and his text is full of smart aperçus, such as speculation on why dogs figure so often in stories and images about death, for 'who more than the dead need protection, attention, and guidance?' . . . A delight for dog-loving art connoisseurs, and vice versa. * Kirkus Reviews *
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