Angry Dog 1700 - 1755

Jean-Baptiste Oudry captured this ‘Angry Dog’ in a drawing with black and white chalk on brown paper. Oudry lived during the reign of Louis XV, when French society was highly stratified, and courtly life was obsessed with status and appearances. Dogs, often symbols of loyalty and status, were prevalent in art and aristocratic life, yet Oudry subverts this idealization. In this drawing, he presents a dog in a moment of raw, unfiltered emotion. The dog’s bared teeth and tense posture convey a sense of unease and challenge traditional, romanticized depictions of animals. There is a palpable sense of discomfort emanating from this image. Oudry avoids sentimentality, instead, he confronts viewers with the reality of animal emotion. This allows for a deeper consideration of our relationships with the natural world.