DEVOTION OF A DOG: HENRY LANDSEER'S "ATTACHMENT"

2014-22  Devotion of a Dog: Henry Landseer's "Attachment"

Sir Edwin Henry Landseer [1802-1873]

Sir Edwin Henry Landseer [1802-1873] was the greatest animal painter of the nineteenth century, and for his contemporaries, the greatest artist of the age. His masterly work had added appeal because of his tendency to give his animal scenes a moral dimension, in particular dogs in the service of humanity. 

The best known of Landseer's works, however, are sculptures. He was the sculptor  who created the four 20-foot long lions [click here] that  surround Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London.

Inspired by Sir Walter Scott's poem, Helvellyn, in 1829 Landseer painted Attachment, depicting the story of Foxie's devotion to her master, Gough. The painting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1830 along with Scott's poem Helvellyn. 


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Foxie's Devotion  captured in Canvas as ATTACHMENT:

"Attachment" by Edwin Henry Landseer [1829]

ATTACHMENT depicts the undying devotion of the pet dog Foxie to her master Charles Gough.  Gough was an artist of the early romantic movement in England. While visiting the Lake District in 1805 he decided to go hiking at Helvellyn with his dog Foxie, and was never again seen alive.

Three months later a shepherd heard a dog barking and discovered Foxie beside Gough’s body. In his lifetime Gough had never achieved a lot of fame. However, in death he became an icon of the movement to both artists and writers. The story of Gough and Foxie was retold in poems written by Sir Walter Scott and William Wordsworth, and Landseer has immortalized it in his painting.

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"Saved" by  E H Landseer

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"The Arab Tent" by E H Landseer

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"Monarch of the Glen" by E H Landseer

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SlideShow of 146 Paintings by Edwin Henry Landseer [Click here]

Youtube Video of Dog Paintings by Edwin Henry Landseer [Click here]


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