Three Dogs c. 19th century

Editor: This is Alexandre-Gabriel Decamps' "Three Dogs," a drawing at the Harvard Art Museums. It's… pretty self-explanatory, but the dynamics between the dogs are interesting. What else do you see in it? Curator: It reflects a rising interest in animal subjects, moving them from simple allegories to studies of character and social dynamics. How do the setting and the absence of humans influence your reading? Editor: It feels like their own little world! So, the artist is granting them agency? Curator: Exactly! The lack of human presence encourages us to see them as independent beings with their own interactions, mirroring human society, perhaps even critiquing it. We project onto them. Editor: That's a cool concept. I hadn't thought about that. It makes me wonder what Decamps thought about society at the time.