The colored mosaic of a guard dog with the words "Cave Canem" - beware of the dog - still set in the outside wall of a house in the ruins of {Pompeii is a reminder that well before the birth of Christ, man had a long and successful relationship with the dog.
William Secord is the first author to explore the presentation of the dog - a symbol of fidelity on medieval tombs - from its origins in Greek, Roman, and later European art to the remarkable paintings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and up to modern times.
He traces the evolution of some fifty breeds, using carefully selected illustrations by superb nineteenth and twentieth century artists, ranging from depictions of hounds and sporting dogs in the field to Victorian portraits of pampered pets and highly-bred favorites.
The paintings of sporting dogs which dominated the genre in the United States are beautifully represented by the work of Arthur F. Tait, Edmund Osthaus, Gustav Muss-Arnolt and Percival Rosseau. In Britain, the work of such artists as Sir Edwin Landseer, Frank Paton, Briton Riviere, Maud Earl and Arthur Wardle, who chronicled not only the breeds but also the place of the dog in British life, is lavishly illustrated.
The author describes the establishment of The Kennel Club and The American Kennel Club, and the part they played in setting breed standards and regulating dog shows. Dog-loving pinnacles of society, including queen Victoria in England and Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge in the U.S.A., are also discussed.
Illustrated with 150 color and 317 black and white plates, this splendid account of the most popular breeds provides an original and penetrating artistic record of mankind's faithful companions. It is also invaluable reference work on the many superb painters who specialized in dog painting, providing an essential index for arts historians, dealers and galleries requiring a directory of names and examples of the exponents of this popular genre.