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The Dog's Gaze: A Visual History
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Expected 2 Jun 26Win a free print copy of this book!
1 day and 23:08:43
30 copies available
U.S. only
What 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 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 doppelgängers, 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.
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 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 doppelgängers, 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.
400 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication June 2, 2026
About the author
Thomas W. Laqueur
9 books71 followersThomas W. Laqueur is an American historian, sexologist and writer.
He is the author of Solitary Sex : A Cultural History of Masturbation and Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud as well as many articles and reviews. He is the winner of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's 2007 Distinguished Achievement Award and is Professor of History at the University of California.
He is the author of Solitary Sex : A Cultural History of Masturbation and Making Sex: Body and Gender from the Greeks to Freud as well as many articles and reviews. He is the winner of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation's 2007 Distinguished Achievement Award and is Professor of History at the University of California.
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September 11, 2025
There are some cats, cattle, and horses scattered across the history Western art, but overwhelmingly there are dogs. What are they doing there, and what do they tell us of the stories we tell about ourselves and our lives?
Tom Laqueur's startlingly original cultural history draws our attention to the presence and function of the dogs featured in artworks from prehistoric caves to Caillebotte, from Rubens to Rego and Giotto to Giacometti, showing us how they serve as our social doppelgängers.This is an intellectually rigorous work from one of the world's most celebrated historians, but it's also very charming – and loads of fun!
Highly recommended for dogs lovers, lovers of art and social history, and all those in between and beyond.
Tom Laqueur's startlingly original cultural history draws our attention to the presence and function of the dogs featured in artworks from prehistoric caves to Caillebotte, from Rubens to Rego and Giotto to Giacometti, showing us how they serve as our social doppelgängers.This is an intellectually rigorous work from one of the world's most celebrated historians, but it's also very charming – and loads of fun!
Highly recommended for dogs lovers, lovers of art and social history, and all those in between and beyond.
Displaying 1 of 1 review