Dog Etching No. 8
Signed Print

As with the other works in the Dogs series of 1998, here Hockney has chosen to depict one of his dachshunds in monochrome, using just black ink to convey the fur and features of his beloved pet. He has also chosen again to use a cushion to frame the composition and add an extra layer of tenderness and comfort to the portrait. We are shown the dog’s face in slight profile as he sleeps, peacefully unaware of his role as the sitter, with his body curled up in a soft dark mound. By a trick of perspective the dog appears much more compact than we would expect from a sausage dog, giving him the air of being a puppy rather than a full grown dog. Hockney started drawing dogs in 1987 when he adopted his first pair of dachshunds. What began as a casual drawing exercise soon became a series of touching portraits that are now an important part of his oeuvre. In 1995 Hockney took this practice one step further and began painting his dogs, in reaction to the grief he felt over the death of Henry Geldzahler and many other close friends he lost to the AIDS crisis of the preceding years. Speaking of this turn in his work Hockney said, “I wanted desperately to paint something loving. … I felt such a loss of love I wanted to deal with it in some way.”