The Painter and his Pug[1] is a 1745 self-portrait created by William Hogarth featuring his pug dog, Trump. He began the portrait a decade earlier. The portrait was originally created with the intention of Hogarth wearing formal attire, but was changed to the informal attire sometime during the painting process.[2]
In the portrait, Hogarth himself is in a painting as the pug is alongside him, making Trump "real" as opposed to the created person.[3] The dog is indifferent to the painting, to the books and to the painting palette (which shows Hogarth's Line of Beauty). So the painting seems to be a Vanitas still life. But, as an ironic disruption, the cloth behind the dog comes out of the painting.
The painting is part of the collections of the Tate Gallery.
- ^ "The Painter and His Pug | painting by Hogarth".
- ^ "The Painter and his Pug, William Hogarth". Tate Britain. August 2004. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
- ^ Ma, Brian Thom McQuade (2012). Seven Painters Who Changed the Course of Art History. AuthorHouse. p. 120. ISBN 9781477227411.