Quarterly Newsletter – Winter 2024/5

Director’s Welcome

Dear Friends,

As we step into this exciting new year, I want to take a moment to reflect on the extraordinary close to 2024 and the inspiring momentum we’re carrying into 2025. Your unwavering support and enthusiasm continue to make the AKC Museum of the Dog a place where the love of dogs and art come together in remarkable ways.

This past quarter has been nothing short of spectacular. Our Members Lounge at the AKC National Championship in Orlando and the Palm Springs dog show was a runaway success, offering our community a space to relax, connect, and celebrate the sport we love. In the museum, we set new attendance records for weekend visits earlier this month—an achievement we’re incredibly proud of. And, thanks to you, we saw the largest jump in membership since the Museum’s inception!

We’ve also forged exciting new corporate partnerships with Fi and Just Food for Dogs, bringing even more opportunities to engage, educate, and enhance the visitor experience. Our programs have flourished, and with such a strong foundation, we’re poised for an incredible year ahead.

Read on to learn about the slew of exciting things taking place this season. Dog Days of Winter is hung in our third-floor gallery and voting is well underway. Don’t miss your chance to vote in person for your favorite of the 20 member-created pieces! Each one is deserving of a win, and we can’t wait to see who takes home the ribbon next month.

Whether you’re a longtime supporter or newly joining our pack, we’re so grateful to have you with us. The best is yet to come, and we can’t wait to share it all with you.

Warmest wishes,
Christopher E. Bromson, CEO/Executive Director
Luca, Chief Canine Officer Luca 🐾
AKC Museum of the Dog

The Dog That Followed Me Home

by Alan Fausel

When I began in the art business, some 40 years ago, I marveled at the “old-timers” who would recall works of art that had returned to the art market decades earlier. This is a story of one special dog painting that kept following me around throughout my career in the dog art world.  

Sometime in the Summer of 2000, Allan Willemsen called me out to his home and farm located in Mendham NJ. His mother, Connie, was a well-respected Bedlington Breeder and AKC Judge. She also initiated the Constance M. Willemsen Breed Betterment Award in 1992 through the Bedlington Terrier Club of America.

In addition to being active in the Bedlington world, she maintained a part-time concern as a dog art dealer. It was about the second year of the “Dogs in Art” auction that I had initiated with the Doyle New York and Bonhams then based in the UK when I received Allan’s call after his mother had passed away and he wanted to disperse the inventory from her collection.  I went to meet him at his acreage in Mendham, NJ where he maintained a home and ran a few head of cattle. We made our selections for the coming auction including a painting by the Belgian artist Conradijn Cunaeus of a Leonberger set against an Alpine landscape. 

At the time, Allan and his wife had two Golden Retrievers. About a week before the auction, I received a call from Allan requesting the return of the painting. Apparently, in the months intervening my taking possession of the work, and the publication of the auction catalogue, the Willemsens had a chance encounter in a parking lot with a Leonberger breeder who had a pup in tow. They fell in love with the dog and proceeded to bring him home and wanted to have the painting back. I normally would have charged withdrawal fees as per our contract, but he had other paintings which he had not yet consigned to auction that I coveted for future sales. I returned the painting and figured I may just see it again.  

In 2014 I received another call from Allan informing me that his beloved Leonberger had passed away and he and his wife were downsizing. The Cunaeus painting and others were being considered for auction. The painting was offered in Bonhams “Dogs in Show and Field” sale in February 2015. I did not recognize the winning bidder for the Leonberger and just figured it found a happy home. Only later, in the Summer of 2018, when I was hired by AKC to move the Museum of the Dog from St. Louis to New York, did I learn where the Cunaeus painting had landed. At an AKC Summer employee get-together, I had a lengthy conversation with Mara Bovsun who was engaged in AKC publications. Among other topics, she informed me that she had a  Leonberger who she was training for agility. She also noted that she was the happy owner of a painting that she acquired at auction. She was indeed the purchaser of the Cuneaus painting. 

Several years later, Mara informed me sadly, that her husband, Mike Santangelo had passed away during the pandemic and she was giving up her NYC apartment. In an act of generosity, she agreed to loan the painting to the museum, and it is now a promised gift to the institution. To commemorate the gift, we posted a message on Instagram with Mara, the painting, and, of course, her incredible Leonberger Emily. I am pleased to say that as of this writing the painting can be seen in the museum’s third floor gallery. It is extra special for me to welcome my old friend to a forever home within the AKC family. Thank you, Connie, Allan and Mara, for making this happen.  

Honoring the Point: The Gwynne McDevitt Sporting Dog Collection 

By Alan Fausel

This coming Spring and Summer the AKC Museum of the Dog will be awash with Gordon Setters. We will be hosting highlights of the National Sporting Library & Museum’s recent exhibition Honoring the Point: The Gwynne McDevitt Sporting Dog Collection. A passionate sportswoman, she collected sporting art in a variety of genres and media by renowned artists such as Robert K. Abbett, John Emms, Edmund Henry Osthaus, and Percival Rosseau. Though McDevitt had a passion for the hunt, Tennessee Walking Horses and English Setters, she is best remembered in the dog world for breeding and working with Gordon Setters.

McDevitt’s donation of 84 works is the largest bequest of art to the National Sporting Library & Museum. The AKC Museum of the Dog will be displaying 56 of the pieces from the collection, primarily the dog paintings. It is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue with a foreword by renowned dog art expert and founding Director of our museum, William Secord. The exhibition will run from April 2 through August 31, 2025.

This traveling exhibition was organized by the National Sporting Museum & Library in Middleburg, VA and curated by Claudia Pfeiffer, the NSLM’s George L. Ohrstrom, Jr. Deputy Director and Head Curator.

James Hardy, Jr. (British, 1832-1889). “A Good Day’s Shooting”, 1883. Oil on canvas. National Sporting Library & Museum, Estate of Gwynne McDevitt, 2023

Gustav Muss-Arnolt (French, 1858-1927). “English Setters in the Field”, n.d., oil on canvas. National Sporting Library & Museum, Estate of Gwynne McDevitt, 2023

Percival Leonard Rosseau (American, 1859-1937). “English Setters Drinking from a River”, 1920, oil on canvas. National Sporting Library & Museum, Estate of Gwynne McDevitt, 2023

Arthur Wardle (English, 1860-1949). “Gordon Setter Head Studies”, n.d. oil on canvas. National Sporting Library & Museum, Estate of Gwynne McDevitt, 2023

 

Winter 2024/5 Programs

Programming at the AKC Museum of the Dog was packed this fall! We enjoyed our time-honored events such as Furry Friday: Howl-o-ween and art classes as well as new offerings with AKC FIT Dog Club and our Dia de Muertos ofrenda display. 

Furry Fridays

We welcomed a record number of people and pups to our Furry Friday: Howl-o-ween event in October! A bull terrier named Johnny Lawrence and a French bulldog named Butterbean won the opportunity to have their likeness carved into a pumpkin care of notable carving artist, Brent Heuser. Other notable events included our Presidential Dogs program where participants made campaign posters for their dogs, many of whom advocated for higher cheese taxes, our Happy Howlidays program which included a concert from NYU’s acapella group the Vocaholics, and our Celebrate Good Times

Art Classes

Once per month, we offer the opportunity to make dog art with one of our talented teaching artists. Join us for pastel painting class or printmaking this spring. Learn tips and tricks for depicting dog eyes and noses as well as careful line choices for making prints of furry faces. 

FIT Dog

Our first AKC FIT Dog walk in October took us from the Museum to the statue of Balto, the famous sled dog sculpture, in Central Park. Our second walk brought the Museum to Brooklyn to explore a new borough and investigate the history of the most famous dog show in NYC. Join us in April for a tour of dog-friendly parks in Manhattan kicking off in Plaza 33 next to Penn Station.

Breed Spotlights

We welcomed some amazing breeds to our fall slate of Breed Spotlight programming: Clumber Spaniel, Xoloitzcuintli, Field Spaniel, and Schipperke. Our xolo event ran alongside our first Dia de Muertos celebration including a dog-themed ofrenda showcasing photos submitted by our community of pets who have passed away. It was a really moving display and xolos have a direct connection with the observance of the holiday.

Thank you to our donors