29 March – 15 October 2023
#WallaceWoofs

★★★★★ 'A treat for art-lovers and dog-lovers alike' – The Telegraph
★★★★ 'Charming' – The Evening Standard

Our major exhibition, Portraits of Dogs: From Gainsborough to Hockney, ran from 29 March – 15 October 2023.

The exhibition explored our devotion to four-legged friends across the centuries. Through carefully selected paintings, sculptures, drawings, works of art and even taxidermy, the exhibition highlighted the unique bond between humans and their canine companions.

Dog portraiture developed as an artistic genre contemporaneously with its human counterpart – dogs are represented in the earliest cave paintings alongside humans – and it flourished, particularly in Britain, from the 17th century onwards. More than any other nationality perhaps, the British have both commissioned and collected portraits of dogs.

Bringing over 50 works of art to Hertford House, Portraits of Dogs presented a broad range of portraiture showing dogs in all their different shapes and sizes, with each painter or sculptor challenging themselves how best to represent mankind’s most faithful and fearless friend.

Missed the exhibition? Buy the catalogue here.