"I realised I was painting my best friends" - Celebrating David Hockney’s ‘Dog Days’

In 1995, David Hockney displayed Dog Days at Yorkshire’s Salts Mill. It was a 45-painting exhibition dedicated to his beloved canine companions, Stanley and Boodgie. As an artist widely known for his contribution to the pop art movement of the 1960s, Hockney refrains from capturing the mystery of strangers and prefers instead to reflect on the intimacy shared with his friends, family, lovers, and of course, pets, all of which can be seen in stunning portraiture. Living between the US and the UK, the artist also marks the changing of seasons in breath-taking multi-disciplinary landscapes, making them, too, a focal point of his work.

Though arguably, his most touching and poignant artwork belongs to Dog Days, symbolising the love between owner and pets. For around 3 months, Hockney set up easels around his home in the Hollywood Hills, capturing his dachshunds “in a way only the owner could.” Though Dog Days exists as an expression of love, it wasn’t created out of a celebration of pets but instead was born out of grief.

The 1990s marked a time in Hockney’s life that was most notably fuelled by intense feelings of isolation due to the loss of four close friends to the HIV/AIDS crisis. The AIDS crisis in the late 20th century emerged as a devastating global health challenge, profoundly impacting many communities worldwide and necessitating urgent action, research, and advocacy. It disproportionately affected the LGBTQ+ community, leading to a devastating loss of friends, partners, and loved ones. Hockney’s feelings of isolation were also made worse due to a decline in his hearing. After the death of his friend Henry Geldzahler, a modern art curator and historian, Hockney retreated to Malibu, where he turned his grief into love. Speaking in 2011, he said...

"I wanted desperately to paint something loving…I felt such a loss of love I wanted to deal with it in some way. I realised I was painting my best friends, Stanley and Boodgie. They sleep with me; I’m always with them here. They don’t go anywhere without me and only occasionally do I leave them. They’re like little people to me. The subject wasn’t dogs but my love of the little creatures."

Stanley and Boodgie served as a source of comfort and inspiration during a difficult time for Hockney, and the above sentiment reflects just how significant their roles were in his life. It’s important to understand that seeking and cherishing unconditional love and companionship from pets is often a common experience in the LGBTQ+ community, with many individuals redefining what ‘family’ means to them through their relationship with their cats and dogs. For many LGBTQ+ people, the relationship with their pets ultimately extends beyond traditional standards of pet ownership and becomes intertwined with identity itself. This isn’t just hypothesised but has been researched extensively, with one of many studies finding that LGBTQ+ individuals had the ease to overcome stressful events related to their mental health when in the presence of their pet.

This seems pertinent for Hockney, who sought solace in Stanley and Boodgie during times of hardship. Coincidentally, a love of dachshunds isn’t something new to the art world, as exemplified by Warhol and his dachshund Archie and Picasso and his dachshund Lump. But when looking at Hockney specifically, exploring where his love of dogs came from can provide us with an even greater understanding of Dog Days and how meaningful this exhibition was.

This seems pertinent for Hockney, who sought solace in Stanley and Boodgie during times of hardship. Coincidentally, a love of dachshunds isn’t something new to the art world, as exemplified by Warhol and his dachshund Archie and Picasso and his dachshund Lump. But when looking at Hockney specifically, exploring where his love of dogs came from can provide us with an even greater understanding of Dog Days and how meaningful this exhibition was.

Hockney was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, in 1937 and fell in love with dogs at a young age. As an adult, he was inspired to purchase a dachshund after falling in love with a neighbour’s dog, and so, a fondness for sausage dogs was born. Stanley arrived first and was followed by Boodgie just two years later. The two dogs lived with Hockney throughout the 80s and 90s, enjoying day trips to the beach and the parks in the Hollywood Hills. Their beds could often be found in the artist’s studio, though upon evenings, they’d retreat to Hockney’s bed instead.

Looking back on his Dog Days exhibition, Hockney writes,

“From September 1993, I painted and drew my dogs. This took a certain amount of planning since dogs are generally not interested in art. (I say generally only because I have now come across a singing dog.) Food and love dominate their lives.

I make no apologies for the apparent subject matter. These two dear little creatures are my friends. They are intelligent, loving, comical, and often bored. They watch me work; I notice the warm shapes they make together, their sadness, and their delights. And, being Hollywood dogs, they somehow seem to know that a picture is being made. The dogs do have different personalities. Stanley will follow me everywhere unless it is raining or someone is doing food. Boodgie is more of a loner.”

Though Stanley and Boodgie were very much ‘Hollywood dogs, ’ the notion of them living a sheltered and spoiled life in Los Angeles (whilst refusing to go out in the rain) is dispelled by Hockney’s quintessential northern quips such as, “They’ll eat anything I eat and I’ll eat anything, me”.

In addition to portraits of Stanley and Boodgie sitting, sleeping, and eating (their three favourite pastimes), Hockney’s home was said to contain a plethora of dachshund memorabilia, something many dog owners are all too familiar with. As well as paintings and drawings of his beloved pets, a series of photographs from their time together depict the three of them co-existing in bliss. Something that remains consistent in all of these photos is Hockney looking at the pair with adoration and love.

Dog Days was well received by critics and art lovers alike. In 2011, the series was translated into a book published by Thames & Hudson and continues to be widely sold to this day. It was also praised for its intimate portrayal of the artist's relationship with his dogs and for showcasing his abilities to not only capture his dogs’ personalities but to provide a glimpse into his personal life and creative process.