Past Exhibits At The Museum
The
Dogs Came Dancing
July 14 through October 14, 2007
The Dogs Came Dancing offers a look at the dog in
early America and represents the second exhibit on the subject of dogs in Native
American culture presented at The AKC Museum of the Dog. Curated by Dr. Patti
J. Wright, Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri - St. Louis, this
unique exhibit includes photographic images and loan material from the Burke
Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington; Notman Photographic
Archives, McCord Museum, Montreal; Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto; British Columbia
Archives, Royal British Columbia Museum; Cline Library, Northern Arizona University;
the Center for American Archeology, and St. Louis Mercantile Library at the University
of Missouri - St. Louis.
On display are Colima Dog Vessels from the Museum of the Dog's permanent collection.
The clay models represent the famous pre-Columbian dogs from the Colima region
of Mexico, given to the Museum by the Mexican Kennel Club (Federacion Canofila
Mexicana) in 1986 by Dr. Jose Payro. The vessels represent the Xoloitzcuintles,
the virtually hairless dogs that in present times are used for protection and
in pre-Columbian times were thought to have provided companionship and sustenance
to those on the voyage to the other world.
The Art of Harry Carl Weber
September 18, 2007
More
than twenty bronzes by the well known artist Harry Carl Weber of Wright
City, Missouri, will be on display at the Museum from September 18 through
October 18, 2007. In conjunction with this special event a meet-the-artist
reception to be held on the Charing Cross Courtyard is planned for the
evening of September 18, 2007.
Canine Treasures
For well over a hundred years, the sport
of showing purebred dogs has excited canine enthusiasts in countless kennel
club competitions throughout the world!
It was inevitable that a dog would be compared with similar dogs in evaluating
an ultimate standard that would represent the best of a breed. And it was during
the mid-nineteenth century that the first recorded dog shows took place with
the introduction of the first American Dog Show held on October 7, 1874, in
Mineola, New York. This event was followed by the Tennessee Sportsman’s
Association Field Trial at Memphis, Tennessee, on October 8 of the same year.
The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show was first presented in May 1877 at Gilmore’s
Garden on Madison Avenue and Twenty-sixth
Street in New York City. The American Kennel Club, established in 1884, produced
its first dog show in 1926 to celebrate the country’s sesquicentennial
and its second show in 1984 at the Philadelphia Civic Center.
The Museum’s Canine Treasures exhibition on display in the Special
Exhibit Gallery offers a glimpse into the history of the dog show world with
memorabilia, trophies, art, and artifacts shared by various lenders from
across the country.
In addition to material lent by the fancy, Canine Treasures also includes
trophies, ribbons, vintage dog show catalogs, and historic medals from the
Museum’s
permanent collection. Of special interest is an early silver pedestal cup engraved “For
the Best Pointer at the Eastern Field Trial, Dec. 1880 Won By Sensation.” The
well-known pointer, Sensation, holds the unique distinction of being the well-recognized
logo for the Westminster Kennel Club which donated this object to the Museum
in 1987.
Also on display from the permanent collection is an illustrious lidded silver
cup awarded to Ch. Covy Tucker Hill’s Manhattan by the American Kennel
Club at its Centennial Show in 1984. This object was given to the Museum in
1996 by Shirlee G. Braunstein and the estate of Jane A. Firestone.
Loan material sent by Mrs. Alfred Treen of Pasadena, California, includes
a beautiful 1906 Atlantic City Show quadruple silver cup manufactured by
Balfour Silver Company engraved “For the Best American Bred Dog Won by Gedney
Farm Rocksand.” On the front of the cup is a raised sterling silver
medallion with the inscription “Dalmatian Club of America, Organized
1905.” Mrs. Treen recalls this piece was found in the open trunk of
a car at an outdoor flea market. The trophy was badly tarnished and most likely
of little value to whoever owned it at the time. It now proudly belongs in
Treen’s collection where tender loving care and silver polish have brought
it back to life.
Mary Happel of Dayville, Connecticut, lent a painting by the artist Ruth
K. Teeter of the American Staffordshire Terrier Grand Champion River Run’s
Lt. Jiggs. The painting, signed and dated 1992, is featured on the 1993
cover of The American Staffordshire Terrier Annual. Happel also provided
several photos of Jiggs including an image of this beloved dog with Junior
Handler Kyle LaMarque.
Happel recalls, “Jiggs was one of those once in a lifetime dogs.
He was a show dog extraordinaire.”
Jean and Robert A. Hetherington of Oxford, Connecticut, lent a Bulldog
trophy inscribed on the base: Providence 4-5-8.1902, Presented by Mr. E.
E. Codman / Won by Colonel B. and Lady Jane.
Carol Beuchat, award-winning photographer and graduate of Occidental College
with a doctorate from Cornell University, provided six color photographs
of champion dogs including a Great Pyrenees, Brittany, Ibizan Hound, Australian
Shepherd, Papillon, and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Among Beuchat’s
canine clientele are several of the country’s top show dogs. A member
of the World Dog Press Association (WDPA), Beuchat won the American Kennel
Club’s annual AKC Gazette Photo Contest in 2004 and 2005. She resides
in southern California with her English Springer Spaniels Sally and Ginny.
Angela L. Moore of Battle Ground, Washington, sent a picture of her husband
Jack C. Moore, Jr., and his Bull Terrier winning first prize at the Oakland
Kennel Club in March 1949. Mrs. Moore also sent for exhibit the blue ribbon
kept in a shadow box, a loving cup, and a superb Boehm porcelain statue
of the winning Bull Terrier.
Additional exhibit material was graciously provided by Emily Nie, Rachel
DiAndrea, Georgina Nagy, Ann Katherine, Laura Farrell, Heddie Leger, Rosalind
Trigg, and Ashley Dumas.
Canine Treasures 
Want to show off Fido's show-winning accomplishments or boast about your dog's winning skills in agility? Want to let everyone know that you have the best field trial dog in the country? The AKC Museum of the Dog is seeking loan material for its first-ever Canine Treasures exhibit which will include a variety of artifacts associated with dog shows and dog-related events. If you own a champion show-dog portrait, pastel, or drawing, artifacts, photos, trophies, dog show collectibles, or other dog related items that would be available for loan, please contact Museum Director Barbara Jedda McNab at 314-821-3647 or email by clicking here.
Artists' Registry Exhibitions
The fifth in a series of popular Artists' Registry Exhibitions opened in the Museum's Special Exhibit Gallery in June and featured thirteen works of art by Anita Baarns of Round Hill, Virginia as well as fifteen paintings in acrylic by Nan Kilgore Little of Gladstone, Virginia. Also exhibited were whimsical, mixed-media sculptures by artist Jack Dowd of Sarasota, Florida. While the Museum's previous Artists' Registry Exhibition featured solely paintings, this special presentation included a mix of oil, pastel, and acrylic portraits that were shown in conjunction with Dowd's three-dimensional works of art.
Baarns who was born in Fontainebleu, France, is heavily influenced by the subject of horses and hounds and has exhibited a the American Academy of Equine Art in Lexington, Kentucky, and her work has appeared many times on the cover of The Chronicle of the Horse. In 1998, Baarns became a naturalized citizen of the United States. She also won the Jean Bowman Award for Best in Show for her work entered in the Sporting Art Exhibition sponsored by the Museum of Hounds and Hunting at Morven Park in Leesburg, Virginia.
Nan Kilgore Little grew up in rural Maryland, but always felt Virginia, where she currently resides with her husband and a geriatric crew of Ibizan Hounds, four Pugs, and an Australian Cattle Dog in Bent Creek, was her spiritual home. Little believes that aesthetics, color, and luminosity are important elements in her work, but her interests in light and the personality of individual subjects are paramount. Little boasts numerous private commissions.
Jack Dowd knew at an early age he possessed a passion for art. After graduating from Adelphi University in Garden City, New York, Dowd became a high school art teacher and by the 1970s, his artistic interests had developed into a more serious pursuit. It was during this time he discovered his whimsical, expressionistic style of sculpture.
Dowd seeks inspiration in the everyday, often seeking out the overlooked simplicities of life. He then translates his experiences into an artistic language that speaks to everyone.
The Museum's Artists' Registry is a free resource comprising biographical information on more than two hundred artists available by commission for dog portraits or dog-related art. Artists interested in joining the Artists' Registry should send a one-time $5 fee along with photographs of their work to the AKC Museum of the Dog, 1721 S. Mason Rd., St. Louis, Missouri, 63131.
The most recent Artists' Registry Exhibition was available from June through September 2006.
