{"product_id":"the-dogs-gaze-a-visual-history-9780241729083","title":"The Dog's Gaze: A Visual History","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhat do dogs do in art?  Long before the phrase 'man's best friend' became common parlance, dogs were already standing beside us in art as in life. In The Dog's Gaze, the historian Thomas W. Laqueur invites us to explore why they feature more than any other animal in the ways in which we picture ourselves and our stories.  Dogs have been ubiquitous in the worldmaking of visual artists as far back as the Palaeolithic age. Looking across the western tradition, from Giotto to Goya and Rubens to Rego, Laqueur shows what their presence - as hunting partners, beloved friends and even conduits to the afterlife - reveals about our own ways of seeing and how we want to be remembered. Far from being mere motifs, dogs are an integral and intentional element of the images in which they appear: they provide narrative coherence; they look out and bear witness, often on the artist's behalf; they illuminate our understanding of morality and melancholy and some, like us, become celebrities. Indeed, as the author shows, dogs in art are our social doppelg ngers, our companions in looking and being.  Richly illustrated and lovingly written, The Dog's Gaze is a unique visual history that examines the shared social history of our two species and offers fresh insights into the human condition through the eyes of our canine companions.\u003ch4\u003eDetails\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eISBN13: 9780241729083\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat: Hardback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNumber of Pages: 400\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication Date: 11 Aug 2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher: Penguin Books Ltd\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication City, Country: London, United Kingdom\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDimensions (cm): 24.2(H)x16.1(L)x3.5(W)908\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWeight (gm): 908\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h4\u003eThomas W. Laqueur is the Helen Fawcett Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. An internationally renowned cultural historian, he has published books on topics ranging from working class religion and education during the industrial revolution to the history of sexuality and the body. He is a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, and recipient of the 2007 Mellon Foundation Distinguished Achievement in the Humanities Award and the 2016 Cundill Prize for Historical Literature. His work has been translated into twenty languages.\u003ch4\u003eReviews\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cb\u003eLuminous\u003c\/b\u003e ... Laqueur takes us on \u003cb\u003ea wonderfully illustrated tour of dogs in art\u003c\/b\u003e, from Rembrandt’s etching The Good Samaritan to the Jeff Koons balloon dog, by way of cinema superstar Lassie. His special interest, though, is for those places where dogs are engaged in an act of looking ...\u003cb\u003e by the end of this clever, beautiful book, Laqueur has persuasively made his point that the dog’s function in western art is to provide an entry-point or alter ego for viewers who might otherwise feel overwhelmed or outclassed \u003c\/b\u003e... [it is]\u003cb\u003e a brilliant interpretation of their role at heart\u003c\/b\u003e -- Kathryn Hughes * Guardian *\u003cbr\u003eIn this \u003cb\u003echarming and lavishly illustrated\u003c\/b\u003e book, Laqueur sets out how to discover what dogs do for the artists and how they do it … \u003ci\u003eThe Dog’s Gaze \u003c\/i\u003eis \u003cb\u003ean enjoyable romp\u003c\/b\u003e -- Chloe Ashby * The Times *\u003cbr\u003e[Laqueur] handles an enormous timespan with confidence and deftness of touch. The result is a book that is both \u003cb\u003eerudite and entertaining\u003c\/b\u003e -- Kirsten Tambling * Literary Review *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA work of immensely humane scholarship\u003c\/b\u003e ... Laqueur wants to tell us why dogs matter, demystifying his subject while respecting its mystique. [His] writing is \u003cb\u003eerudite and expansive\u003c\/b\u003e in its range of reference and knowledge, but it is addressed not just to a nonexpert audience but to a larger humane mission -- Adam Gopnik * The New Yorker *\u003cbr\u003eAs long as canines have been an integral feature of the human world, they have been an integral feature of our artistic world. In \u003ci\u003eThe Dog's Gaze\u003c\/i\u003e, historian Thomas W Laqueur seeks to answer the question of why.... Striking -- Luka Ivan Jukic * Financial Times *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eInspiring\u003c\/b\u003e, educational, moving, sometimes distressing, this is\u003cb\u003e a riveting visual history of man’s best friend\u003c\/b\u003e… a \u003cb\u003efascinating\u003c\/b\u003e book with stunning illustrations. -- Elisa Segave * Spectator *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBrilliantly wise and engaging\u003c\/b\u003e ... a thoughtful, erudite account of dogs in art, from prehistoric petroglyphs to Lucien Freud's whippets, William Wegman's photographs of Welmaraners and a yellow dog in a painting by Kerry James Marshall. Most of the great dogs of art history are here, but the book also contains many paintings I didn't know. \u003cb\u003eA magnificent, generous book\u003c\/b\u003e -- Robert Hanks * Apollo Magazine *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003esuperbly illustrated\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003ebeautifully written\u003c\/b\u003e ... [full of] \u003cb\u003ecountless magical and erudite insights\u003c\/b\u003e ... \u003ci\u003eThe Dog's Gaze\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003ethe kind of volume you'll return to again and again, learning something new each time\u003c\/b\u003e. Laqueur guides us through the history of art and the relationship between dogs and humans [with] deep knowledge, energised by the [his] obvious love for our four- legged friends . -- Bel Mooney * Mail on Sunday *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA splendid blend of histories\u003c\/b\u003e: natural, cultural, and artistic ... \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Dog's Gaze\u003c\/i\u003e is a delight for dog-loving art connoisseurs, and vice versa\u003c\/b\u003e * Kirkus Reviews *\u003cbr\u003eIt is difficult to think of many other books that are at once so brilliant, so wonderfully entertaining, and so moving. \u003cb\u003eI savoured every page and lingered over every illustration\u003c\/b\u003e. It turns out that a dog’s eye view gives us unique access to some of the deepest longings, needs, and creative powers of our own species. \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Dog’s Gaze\u003c\/i\u003e is full of exuberant insights about our canine friends, about art, and about the human condition\u003c\/b\u003e -- Stephen Greenblatt","brand":"Thomas W. Laqueur","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49113814401241,"sku":"9780241729083","price":85.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0502\/9530\/8441\/files\/9780241729083.jpg?v=1787147174","url":"https:\/\/www.arielbooks.com.au\/products\/the-dogs-gaze-a-visual-history-9780241729083","provider":"Ariel","version":"1.0","type":"link"}