Portrait of a Dark Brown and White Newfoundland Spaniel

From the mid-1770s onwards, dog portraiture became one of the principal and most sought after aspects of Stubbs’s art. The present composition is almost frieze-like and recalls the artist’s celebrated work in enamel which he had been actively experimenting with in collaboration with Josiah Wedgwood since the late 1760s. The effect is to accentuate the solidity and three-dimensionality of the dog itself, projecting him out of the picture towards the viewer.