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Dimensions: 53 by 38 1/4 in. 134.6 by 97.2 cm
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Provenance: Private Collection, North Carolina, circa 1960
thence by descent
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Notes: By the turn of the century in England, the popularity of the dog as a domestic pet reached unprecedented heights. Queen Victoria and the British nobility's love of pure-bred dogs made it socially de rigeur to be accompanied by a highly bred canine. During this time, some of the most popular and prolific art was created in the area of sporting paintings and animal portraiture; although hunting, shooting and fishing remained prime recreations of the upper classes throughout the nineteenth century, the rise of a prosperous middle class led to the promotion of dogs in particular to membership of the family circle. To quote a biographer of Landseer, the dog was elevated to "something that closely approximates to human nature in its generous sympathies" (John Hadfield, Every Picture Tells a Story, New York, 1985, p.92).
The dogs in the present work are clearly sympathetic to their mistress. They provide an anchoring presence for her as she anxiously awaits someone to sit with her on the bench. The fishing basket and rod also suggest a missing male companion, and the dogs gaze intently in the same direction as the young lady, sharing her anticipation. This tense moment shows us an early chapter in a 'story picture;' a very popular genre in Victorian England. Surrounded by the beauty of nature and her faithful friends, our heroine is frozen in a moment of pure expectation.
