Bob the Dog

Noted for her dedication to the figure, and her immediacy of touch, Joan Brown was among the youngest artists associated with the so-called Bay Area Figurative Painters. Influenced by the presence of animals in Old Master paintings by Velázquez and Rembrandt, Brown often included her family pets in compositions such as this one. Bob, a bull terrier, was the family dog, and was particularly devoted to Brown. Her son Noel once remarked that “Bob was so vain, he probably knew when he was being drawn or painted. We used to refer to him as ‘Bob the tax-deductible dog.’ ”