George Stubbs’ Noble Creatures

English painter George Stubbs made his name with animal portraits that revealed the individual dignity of their subjects

The love affair between the English and their dogs is one of the most well-worn of clichés, conjuring ideas of sentimentality, country living and —with reference to the issue of breeding and bloodlines—perhaps of a kind of class-consciousness and snobbishness which have traditionally been counted as national characteristics. Like all clichés, the relevance and truthfulness of these associations may be questionable, but the peculiar affection of the English upper classes for their animals was an assumption of many commentators in the 18th century and has a special relevance for the history of the visual arts.

from The Bark https://ift.tt/39hNHJK https://ift.tt/39lCjwB