Cavalier Art Tour
Oh, how we humans love to dress up our dogs and give to them human characteristics! No one does this better than Belgian artist Thierry Poncelet.
At first glance his portraits make us smile. A closer look will show that here is an artist who knows his dog breeds and the characteristics peculiar to them that match up so well with the costumes they wear.
"I love dogs. I grew up with three cocker spaniels. I know how to talk with dogs. I can just feel what they’re like, which is why I can attribute genuine human sentiments to them. This makes it easy to imagine them dressed up in costumes."
Thierry Poncelet, "Sit, The Dog Portraits of Thierry Poncelet".
Unlike an ordinary portrait, Poncelet’s works begin as an already existing human portrait. Also an art restorer by profession, Poncelet hunts down antique portraits from estate sales, flea markets or antique shops. He then "restores" the piece by carefully choosing a dog breed and painting in the head of the animal. It’s obvious that the artist has a great sense of humour.
As whimsical as his portraits may seem at first glance, the art world takes his work seriously. Poncelet has had his work exhibited in Milan, Paris, London, and New York.
Although his work encompasses many different breeds, the Cavalier of course is of particular interest to us. See if you can find an ancestor of your Cavalier here in any of Poncelet’s paintings.
Not included in Poncelet’s book, I’ve had to do my own research. Based on the information I could gather, this Lady was married to a Count. Even after producing seven children she never lost her figure or her sense of style. Always the Lady, her behaviour was as impeccable as her neatly waved coiffure.
Sadly, the Count was a cad with a weakness for gambling and drink. It is rumoured that he was heavily in debt and it was only through the generosity of wealthy relatives, who were fond of his wife, that they were able to meet their debts.
At first glance Delores seems to be a very prim and proper young lady. Don’t let the portrait fool you! Delores had a rather colourful reputation as a courtesan in Rome. Quite the heartbreaker at one time, McCall states that once Delores had "the operation" things were never quite the same. The result was the dewy-eyed, innocent looking Delores you see in her portrait.
A nightclub singer, ZuZu was said to have a lovely soprano voice. Her songs were reputed to be the kind that could bring tears to a dog’s eyes. It seems ZuZu is a woman of mystery as not much is known about her. I’ve heard rumours that she was actually fathered by a Brittany Spaniel from the wrong side of the tracks and her mother was a famous opera star.
Rumoured to be the sister of ZuZu, she hid her suspect ancestry well and married a minister. Alas, she was widowed at an early age and left with a broken heart and a young son to support. She was able to secure a position as a governess for a wealthy Bloodhound family. The family heir fell instantly head over tail for her and they were married, resulting in her husband’s disinheritance. The whole affair has been a skeleton in this family’s blueblood closet, and the resulting children from this union were said to be rather "odd-looking".
A lovely royal Blenheim Lady with wavy golden hair. However, rumour holds that she was not well liked and rather nosy. According to McCall, she had a sweet tooth that led to a rather unfortunate weight problem. She does have a rather "snobbish" look about her and if you look closely you can see the beginnings of a double chin.
The wife of an Alabama Plantation owner of French ancestry, this lady was rumoured to be a rather cold and aloof Southern Belle. You can see that in the way she has distanced herself from her rather forlorn-looking child in the portrait. The artist wrote in his memoirs that she refused to hold the pup on her lap, claiming it would spoil her gown.
It has been said that she was quite the society type and loved to attend balls and soirées. Spending her day primping and preening, she left the raising of her child to the servants. She was also said to be quite the trendsetter with fashionable women from all over the state trying to outdo her fabulous ball gowns.
Although she had a nasty reputation with the servants, her husband is said to have adored her and called her "my petite chien".
For more of Thierry Poncelet, read his book "Sit, The Dog Portraits of Thierry Poncelet" (ISBN # 1-56305-380-2). Each portrait has its own story written by Bruce McCall who seems to have a flair for describing the subject with humour and accuracy. Full of amusing and thought-provoking images of pieces Poncelet has done of all different breeds, the chapters are divided into these sections that fit the personalities of the dogs in the portraits.
Artists & Aesthetes
Tycoons & Grandees
Royals & Bluebloods
Don Juans & Femmes Fatales
Swashbucklers & Athletes
Explorers & Visionaries
Cads, Rotters, & Rogues
Persons Of Great Affairs
Denizens of the Demimonde
Dogs of War
Cavalier Art Tour next month: Symbolism In Cavalier Portraits
Proving Citizenship
The Taco Bell Chihuahua and a few of his canine stars took a trip to Tijuana. They went to a doggy bar and got a bit drunk. As they crossed back into the United States, the border guard stopped them.
"Nationality" he said to Lassie.
"Aamerrricannn" slurred Lassie.
The border guard waved Lassie through. The guard asked each of the other three Hollywood dog stars the same question and waved them each through. When it was time for the Taco Bell Chihuahua to pass, our little star showed the guard his green card while wobbling from side to side. The guard studied it carefully and asked some questions of the tipsy star. The border guard was still suspicious so he said,
"I'll let you pass if you can use three words in a sentence."
"No problem, senor" our little star replied.
"Okay, use green, pink, and yellow in a sentence".
The Chihuahua thought for a moment then said,
"The phone, it goes green, green, green; I pink it up, and I say yellow!"
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