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We all adore our pets and try to give them the best that we can afford. They are cuddly, warm, cute, give unconditional love and unwavering devotion. They are very close to our hearts and we love spoiling them, respond to their every cry and whimper, and even spend on expensive pet gourmet treats. We tend to take them to chic pet boutiques, gift them hundred-dollar sweaters, and give them costly paw-di-cures. We dress them up with diamond-studded collars, grant them big rooms all to themselves, and shampoo their coats. We massage them with rich aromatic herbal oils, take them out for a drive letting them hang their heads out with their ears flapping, and celebrate pet birthdays. We procure pet medical insurance, and carry pet photos in purses and wallets. But then those big, adorable, beautiful eyes, the cute lashes, the wagging tail, the wet sniffing nose, and the soft fur, amply justify the pet day spas, day cares, and other pet luxury services. Our dogs and cats have become family members and no family portrait is complete without our lovable canine or feline friends. All celebrated artists have painted pets. Jackson Pollack painted Greyhounds, William Wegman painted Weimaraners, and Peter Max painted Dobermans. The Dachshund was a favorite with Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci, Rubens, Rembrandt, Picasso, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Warhol.
The royal habit of commissioning a pet portrait is an old one. Among the notable portraits of pets are "Dog with Bowl", by Jean-Baptiste Oudry (1686-1755), "Les Petits Favoris", by Anne Vallayer-Coster (1744-1818), "Portrait of the Spaniel of the Infanta Maria Josefa de Bourbón", 1763, by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, "Fox in the Chickenyard", "Sheep Among Leafy Foliage", and "Portrait of a King Charles Spaniel", by Jean-Baptiste Marie Huet (1745-1811). "Portrait of an Extraordinary Musical Dog", by British artist Philip Reinagle (1749-1833) stands out for its hilarious quality. Perhaps the most known animal portraitist is Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (1802-1873), whose works "Portrait of a Terrier, Property of Owen Williams, Esq., M.P., (Jocko with a Hedgehog)" is remembered for the immaculate coat and the silver collar of the pampered terrier Jocko. John Sargent Noble painted "Pug and Terrier", in 1875. The pičce de resistance of pet portraits is William Frank Calderon's, "A Lady of Quality", where the lady is Russian Queen Alexandra's pet wolfhound, who is painted in a dreamy repose on a plush white fur thrown over a divan with tapestry and polished, gilded wooden arms and legs. The expression is of boredom and perhaps fashionable ennui. Her exquisite and sumptuous surroundings speak of her elevated status and her unlimited pampering.
The Presidents of USA had all sorts of pets. They had brought some pets with them while visiting dignitaries had presented other pets to them during their term in the White House. All the White House pets, domesticated or undomesticated, have been immortalized in pet portraits and other memorabilia, and are kept for public display at Presidential Pet Museum, 1102 Wrighton Road, Lothian, Maryland 20711, USA. Among the notable pets are Ofelia (Longhorn Cow) of current President George W. Bush (2001-2008); hamsters and lovebirds of Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-1969). John F. Kennedy (1961-1963) had Robin (canary), Bluebell and Marybelle (parakeets), Debbie and Billie (hamsters), Zsa Zsa (rabbit), and many dogs and cats. Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) was extremely fond of pets and literally had a zoo at the White House. Besides several collies, terriers, chow, sheepdogs, bulldogs, and an alley cat, he had Nip and Tuck (canaries), Snowflake (white canary), Old Bill (thrush), Enoch (goose), Rebecca and Horace (raccoons), Ebenezer (donkey), and Smokey (bobcat). Dignitaries gave him lion cubs, wallaby, a bear and a pigmy hippo to keep as pets at the White House. Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921) had a tobacco-chewing ram and a sheep that grazed on the White House lawn. Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) had twelve horses, six dogs, two cats, one badger, five guinea pigs, two parrots, five bears, one lion, one hyena, one zebra, one barn owl, one raccoon, several snakes, lizards, rats, and roosters, who all lived on the premises of the White House as pets. William McKinley (1897-1901) had a Mexican double-yellow-headed parrot. Rutherford Hayes (1877-1881) had pedigree Jersey cows and the first Siamese Kitten to reach America. Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865) had a white rabbit, goats, turkey, and a pig besides cats and dogs. The King of Siam gifted a herd of elephants to James Buchanan (1857-1861), who already had a pair of Bald Eagles as pets. Martin Van Buren (1837-1841) had a pair of tiger cubs; John Quincy Adams (1825-1829) had an alligator and silkworms; James Madison (1809-1817) had a green parrot; Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809) had a mockingbird and two briards as pets at the White House.
An excellent medium of art utilized to depict your love towards your pet is a portrait of your pet. Down the ages, every pet lover, including presidents, kings, and commoners have commissioned portraits of pets. The earliest known portrait of a pet is of a bull done on a seal found in the ancient civilization of Mohenjodaro dating back to 3000 B.C. Pet portraits of dogs taken out on hunting expeditions are a common sight in cave paintings, Chinese vases, and Japanese screens. We undertake painting of portraits made from any pet photograph of your choice. We can paint dogs, cats, horses, tigers, bears, elephants, or any other pet of your choice.
We have highly talented artists who work full-time exclusively for us, so that they can give complete concentration towards the successful execution of your painting. We use different mediums to make portraits. Please click the links below to make an informed choice.
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