Four Dogs, from Die Zweite Thierfolge
1799/1803
Medium
Etching in black on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
Plate: 12.5 × 19.2 cm (4 15/16 × 7 9/16 in.); Sheet: 16.2 × 22.7 cm (6 7/16 × 8 15/16 in.)
Classification
etching
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
129570
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Reinhart was born in Hof an der Saale, a town in the Bavarian region of Germany. Throughout his career, he made 184 prints, all etchings except for five lithographs. While he is better known for his landscapes, he did create a few animal depictions. This image, in which he included a portrayal of his favorite dog, suggests the artist’s great love of hunting. The four dogs all gaze directly at the viewer, and there is an eerie, almost humanizing aspect to their hungry stares.
About the Artist
Johann Christian Reinhart · 1761–1847
Johann Christian Reinhart (1761–1847) was a German painter and engraver who became one of the founding figures of German Romantic classical landscape painting, spending nearly six decades in Rome and transforming his adopted city into an inexhaustible subject. Born in Hof, Bavaria, on 24 January 1761, Reinhart initially followed his father into theological study before his passion for drawing took...