Pink Nose 

Julie Bell painted ‘Pink Nose’ in 2012. It depicts a cat lying on a bed. At first glance this painting is fairly straightforward but consider this in the context of a longer history of animal paintings, portraiture, and our cultural understanding of pet ownership. Bell’s painting offers insight into contemporary attitudes towards animals. In seventeenth century England, for instance, pet ownership was a status symbol reserved for the wealthy. Pet portraiture was a way to depict the social standing of its owner. The contemporary rise of digital photography and social media has created a context in which images of pets circulate more democratically and widely than ever. As art historians, we must consider these historical contexts in order to analyze art in its full complexity.