Dogs in Mid 19th Century Paintings

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Mary Cassat’s painting, “Little Girl in Blue Chair,” 1878 uses a dog to identify with the little girl. The little girl is positioned on the chair in a very natural way, and this does not fit the way a young lady should sit or act. The dog sleeping on the other chair identifies with the little girl, because it is natural and so is she. “Grande Jatte,” 1884-1886 is a painting by Georges Seurat that actually has two dogs that are used for two different purposes. In the bottom left of this painting there is a small dog that is running toward the middle of the painting. That small dog’s purpose is to be a tiny arrow pointing toward the black dog. “Grande Jatte” is a painting about the upper middle class enjoying a leisurely day. The little girl in the middle dressed in white is the ideal of civilization. She is extremely well behaved and has to sacrifice her inner desires to be wild for the greater good of society. The small dog or arrow is pointing to the black dog, because the larger black dog contrasts to the little girl. The black dog is natural and unleashed. This dog defies civilization and contrasts with the little girl who has to live by a set of regulations for an ideal society. Paul Gauguin’s, “Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?” is a nice summary of his career. This painting shows an entire life from birth to death, and in the bottom right corner you can see a dog halfway in the painting. The dog is not running in or walking by, it is simply sitting and watching the painting. The dog might be a symbol of Gauguin viewing his painting. The dog symbolizes Gauguin watching not only his painting, but his life and the lives around him passing by. Dogs are used throughout works of art to convey meaning, or to be used as visual effects. Cassat, Seurat, and Gauguin did a great job using canines to create meaning and a story line for their

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