Rockland’s Dowling Walsh Gallery highlighted Jamie Wyeth’s “Kleberg: Sunrise, Monhegan,” a 2024 work in watercolor, acrylic, charcoal and gouache on toned board.
Kleberg was a beloved yellow Labrador retriever owned by Wyeth and his wife, Phyllis. Gifted to the Wyeths by Robert Kleberg of Texas’s King Ranch, the dog inspired a celebrated series of artworks by Wyeth, including this recent depiction painted from memory.
One day in the 1980s, Kleberg wandered too close to Wyeth’s easel. In a moment of artistic impulse, Wyeth painted a black circle around the dog’s left eye, mimicking Pete the Pup from “The Little Rascals.”
Finding that the circle required frequent touch-ups, Wyeth started using mustache dye, which lasted about a month. He maintained this unique look on the dog for the rest of his life.
“I thought it looked so wonderful,” Wyeth said.
The marked-up dog became a famous muse. Wyeth’s 1984 oil painting “Kleberg,” housed at the Terra Foundation for American Art, depicts the yellow Lab sitting alongside an antique French beehive and books. The painting also appeared on the cover of the catalog for the retrospective “Jamie Wyeth,” published by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 2014.
Dowling Walsh Gallery is at 357 Main St. in Rockland. For more information, call 207-596-0084, email info@dowlingwalsh.com or go to www.dowlingwalsh.com.
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