The British Sporting Art Trust's exhibition for 2011 in the Vestey Gallery and Forbes Room situated in the National Horseracing Museum:
1st March until 31st October 2011
Man's Best Friend: Dogs and Hounds of Field and Show.
Fox Terriers at Newstead Abbey by W Eddowes Turner (courtesy of the Kennel Club)
For thousands of years artists depicted the dog very much as the incidental or secondary feature in any painting reflecting a more functional view of the relationship. The 15th and 16th centuries saw the animal become much more of a primary subject demonstrating both the rise of secular art as well as the greater affluence of the renaissance.
The increase in the popularity of sporting art from the 17th century in particular saw the depiction of dogs and hounds become a major subject in their own right spawning dog and hound portraiture; which conceivably above all else, illustrates the emotional dimension of man's relationship with his dog.
Study of a Foxhound by Sir Alfred Munnings (courtesy of Sir Alfred Munnings Art Museum)
Man's Best Friend contains pictures from the Trust's own collection as well as from the Kennel Club, Tate Britain, Norwich Castle Museum, the Sir Alfred Munnings Art Museum and private collections illustrating dogs and hounds over three centuries.
Touches of humour include an effigy of Lady Munnings' pekingese, Black Knight, (displayed next to his portrait) and a gathering of top-hatted Victorian gentlemen.
The exhibition is in collaboration with James Harvey British Art of Chelsea, London.