The reigning champion of all vintage dog art is, and will always be, artist Cassius Marcellus Coolidge’s 1903 masterwork A Friend in Need. Not every portrait can be the Mona Lisa, and not all vintage dog art can meet the high standard Coolidge set. But there is still a lot of very good dog art out there, and we’re unleashing some of that for this week’s vintage picks.
Oval Framed Yorkie Painting
Why this is awesome: This is a dog that knows it’s got it going on. Look at the pose and the poise.
How I would use this: It’s a goodly sized painting at 14.5″ x 18.5″ so I would use it as a central image and surround it with smaller paintings.
Oval framed Yorkshire terrier painting offered on Etsy by VintagePortraitShop, $196.00.
Cecil Aldin dog print
Why this is awesome: British illustrator Cecil Aldin (1870-1935) knew his way around a dog. A prolific artist with many book and magazine illustrations to his credit, Aldin’s dogs bypass your brain and lodge directly in your heart.
The first time I handled an Aldin print, I puzzled for quite a while trying to decipher a name from the stylized signature. My ultimate decision was that the artist’s name was the entirely nonsensical “Goi LaLoin.” I know, it’s inconceivable that my best guess was a name that no person has ever had. If I ever need a secret identity, it will be Madame Goi LaLoin. I am not alone however. The first response when you google “Goi LaLoin” is “Cecil LaLoin print signed Cecil Aldin.” So one other person out there was at least partially confused.
How I would use this: I would add other Aldin prints and have a small collection on the wall titled “The LaLoin Gallery.”
1930s Cecil Aldin original print offered by NinskaPrints on Etsy, $32.
1930s kids and a dog snapshot
Why it’s awesome: There are tons of kid and dog snapshots available from vintage sellers. 95% of them are posed. Back in the day when you were shooting with a camera on film, you didn’t waste a single shot on an action scene. These are reasonably small prints, but a group of them together would be kind of fun.
How I would use this: I would probably get a few, write backstories for them and frame them up individually.
Why it’s awesome: There are tons of kid and dog snapshots available from vintage sellers. 95% of them are posed. Back in the day when you were shooting with a camera on film, you didn’t waste a single shot on an action scene. These are reasonably small prints, but a group of them together would be kind of fun.
How I would use this: I would probably get a few, write backstories for them and frame them up individually.
Brother and sister with a dog, 1930s or 1940s photo, from vintagenelly on Etsy, $7.
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1 comment
The Goi LaLoin thing is a riot. Funny enough, we have a late family member named Jacob Cecil Alden, and his wife Selma is an artist. But she signs her work “Alden”, pretty clearly.