Liverpool art of the day – Friday March 2 2007. ‘Girl with Dogs’ 1893 Charles Burton Barber (1845 – 1894) Oil on canvas at Lady Lever Gallery
Ah, cute isn’t it? Except I can’t stand dogs myself.
Its one of the ‘Sunlight Soap’ paintings.
I wonder how the artist got child and animals to stay still long enough to do such a detailed painting?
This is one of many child and dog paintings done by Barber towards the end of his life. These somewhat sentimental works were very popular with the dealers and were often reproduced as chromolithographs (coloured lithograph prints).
In this painting, a young girl carries two puppies in her skirts, watched anxiously by their protective mother. This image was first used as a Lever Brothers advertisement in around 1901, when it was entitled ‘The Family Wash’.