Meredith ‘Bunny’ Howland Pyne with his Dog, Hector 1906

James Jebusa Shannon made this painting of Meredith ‘Bunny’ Howland Pyne with his dog, Hector, using oil on canvas, and it’s a delicious example of the way the Victorians saw themselves. The ochre palette is so rich and smooth, like clotted cream, and you can see how Shannon used these colours to pull Bunny and Hector out of the darkness, as if he were building the image layer by layer. Look at how the brushstrokes create a kind of blurry focus around the edges, especially in the dog’s fur. There’s this push and pull, where some areas are super detailed and others are more about feeling the shape and form. That makes it feel alive, you know? It's like Shannon is saying, "I'm not just copying what I see, I'm showing you how I see it". This reminds me of Manet, especially his portraits. It’s like Shannon is in conversation with the French painters, but doing his own very British thing. Anyway, that's just one way to see it, and it's cool if you see something completely different.