The Gazette

 Whenever I bring up that I'm in a class called Dogs in Art, people always ask if I've seen that painting with the dogs playing poker.  The painting in question is called A Friend in Need, by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge. It is universally recognizable as a sign of bad taste. Coolidge had a background as a commercial artist; he also painted those silly cutouts you put your head through at carnivals. These things The poker dogs are the epitome of kitsch, art that is commercialized, tacky, and appeals to the masses. I was reminded of that in the video about Wegman's art where he criticizes one of his photos that shows dogs wearing sunglasses.  Wegman doesn't like this picture because he feels that dogs in sunglasses is overdone and kitschy; it's the sort of thing you would see in a funny calendar, not a book of fine art. But all of Wegman's photos depict dogs wearing clothes. What makes his work different?    I would say that this isn't kitsch because there'...

Darby hears an interesting noise Going to see all of the dogs in their kennels made me feel like a celebrity. Everyone was staring at me with the world's saddest, biggest eyes. There were so many adorable dogs, but Darby and I really hit it off. I knew he was the right dog for me because he didn't jump up or bark when I walked past. He was very polite and sniffed my hand like a perfect gentleman. He also has the coolest eyes. Darby has heterochromia, meaning he has one blue eye and one brown eye. I think this gives him a distinctive look, which will definitely be a part of my representation.  A volunteer put him on a leash and we went outside to take pictures. Darby was not a very good model. He was very focused on sniffing things, so I couldn't get a good shot of his face until he was in his kennel again.  Although he was not very photogenic, he had the sweetest personality. He was nice to the other dogs and loved to be outside. His favorite thing to do is find and follow ...

I'd like to preface this post with a warning that I just woke up from an unplanned "I just need to rest my eyes for a minute" that turned into a two hour nap, so I can make no promises as to the quality of this response.  This is the vibe for today  Anyways, the Rembrandt work that we read about this week reminded me a lot of Caravaggio's "The Calling of St. Matthew", a work I wrote about for AP Art History. Much like Rembrandt's The Visitation, this work uses bold light and shadows to create a theatrical effect. The figures in the scene are richly clothed in black, brown, and shades of red. However, these are both very intimate, contemporary scenes that a 17th century observer would be able to see themselves in. In Caravaggio's work, this is accomplished by putting the subjects at eye level with the viewer and setting this Biblical scene in a familiar place, a tavern.  The Visitation by Rembrandt  This painting looks to be set in a grand structure w...

 The hardest part of getting a pet is knowing that its lifespan is shorter than yours, and one day it will die. Knowing that the longest you'll have with a beloved pet is probably around 15 years can be hard to settle in your mind.  In this week's readings, we saw two different ways of dealing with animal death: excessive grief and satire. The mid-19th century was the general Emo phase of Europe. People like Mary Shelley, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Caspar David Friedrich, and John Keats decided to make every situation into like, an 11 on the intense emotions scale. Lord Byron was the absolute king of Romanticism. How much of a drama queen do you have to be that "Byronic" means "a tragically flawed hero"? He was so dramatic that he asked for his friend Percy Shelley's skull when he died. Shelley declined, because Byron was currently using the skulls of medieval monks as drinking glasses.  Byron's favorite pet, Boatswain Anyways, Byron loved animals. ...

The one thing I swore that would never happen to me happened: I became a dog person. Much like falling in love, I can't pinpoint the exact moment it happened. I just woke up one day thinking "Oh no. I love dogs now."  From the cinematic masterpiece "Clueless" Certainly, the visit from Arrow didn't help. The moment he came up to me with those big blue eyes and soft ears, my heart melted a little. The previous day I had gone hiking with my friend's dog Addy and she was also a complete sweetheart. She doesn't really have a tail, so she wags her whole butt. What could be cuter than that?  It got me thinking about the dogs I've met before. My previous excuse for disliking most dogs is that they are not well trained. I stand by this. In my neighborhood in Cincinnati, people either do not understand or do not care to train their dogs. Most interactions go something like this:  I'm going for a quick walk around the block. I see my neighbor on the por...

 After digging though every country shelter in Utah, I've found what I want in a pet. Now the trick is to sneak it into my dorm... See?! He's polite! Anyways... here's what would make me want to adopt an animal, which is what I'll be including in my representation.  1) BIG EYES!!! The dogs that really made my heart melt had big ole eyes. Bonus points if they added in a cute head tilt. Apparently dogs evolved to have expressive eyebrows, which made it easier to communicate with humans ( source ) and also made them unbelievably cute. Literally tearing up at this image 2) A silly name  Dogs at shelters seem to be named stuff like Max and Bella, which is cute, but can't compare to a cat named Samsung Galaxy. A unique name gives the animal a lot of personality and makes it memorable.  The one time I accept Constructive Criticism Because I think it's funny, here are some highlights from Petfinder: Heavy Machinery, Business Frog, Neuroscientist, French Fry Freddy, Stev...

Medieval and renaissance art was often pedagogical in purpose, meaning that it implicitly taught a lesson to the audience. Dogs were part of these moralizing messages. However, their meaning varied greatly depending on context. They could be loyal, noble companions or greedy, lascivious beasts. So, for this blog post, I found some canine art from Google Arts and Culture, which I will use to answer that most pressing of questions: Who's a good boy?!  Hunters in the Snow   Official Verdict: Good boys!  This 16th century oil painting is one of the most famous of the Northern Renaissance. It is part of a series on the seasons of the year; this one obviously represents winter. In it, two hunters look out over a snowy landscape, where human houses are engulfed by white fields, dead trees, and looming mountains. This painting conveys a feeling of human insignificance. But all hope is not lost! Accompanying the hunters is a pack of faithful dogs, who trudge through the snow with ...