Name: Dachshunds
Brand: David Hockney
Rating: 4.9 (183 reviews)

Meaning & Analysis

Dachshunds is a signed photographic print by British artist David Hockney – a figure widely hailed as one of the most influential artists of the 20th century. Depicting the artist in an embrace with one of his pet dogs, Stanley and Boodgie, it recalls a period during the 1990s when Hockney was making a large number of paintings of his dogs.

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This signed photographic print by British artist David Hockney depicts the artist in an embrace with one of his dogs. The owner of two Dachshunds, named Stanley and Boodgie, Hockney conducted a very large series of paintings depicting his pets during the middle part of the 1990s. Between 1994 and 1995, Hockney made over 40 of these paintings, which were later published in book form for the 1998 publication, David Hockney’s Dog Days. ‘Posing’ for Hockney in a variety of positions, Hockney painted them as they carried out their daily activities as his loyal companions, capturing them whilst sleeping, playing, drinking and eating. As this black and white print shows, Hockney often used the camera as a means to capture specific images of the dogs which may easily have been fleeting. Much like the photograph John St Clair Swimming, which was used as a jump-off point for the world-famous painting, Portrait Of An Artist (Pool With Two Figures), Hockney would later use these images as a visual reference point when making his paintings. A rather more intimate and candid photograph, Dachshunds is testament to Hockney’s love for his animals. We see him visibly relaxed and enjoying the company of one of his dogs, who were constant companions for him during this time.