Over two years from 1994, David Hockney painted a series of 40 paintings of his charming chocolate dachshunds, Stanley and Boodgie, which would eventually form the thrust of his ‘Dog Days’ exhibition. Setting up easels at different heights around his Montcalm Avenue home in the Hollywood Hills, California, US, he captured the diminutive pair ‘in a way only the owner could’, recording intimate moments as they napped and played.
‘I make no apologies for the apparent subject matter,’ Hockney asserted. ‘These two dear little creatures are my friends.’ His portraits captured their distinct personalities. ‘Stanley will follow me everywhere, unless it is raining, or someone is dispensing food. Boodgie is more of a loner,’ he noted in 1995. ‘They live very comfortably, occasionally going to the beach, and have only two interests as far as I can see: food and love, in that order.’
'They’re like little people to me'
David Hockney, on his dogs Stanley and Boodgie
Hockney had been introduced to dachshunds by his friend and former partner Ian Falconer, who owned a dachsie called Heinz. He encouraged him to adopt Stanley and later, Boodgie. However, it was the death of his dear friend, Henry Geldzahler, curator and art critic, in 1994, that became the catalyst for the artist as he searched for a way to channel his grief. ‘I felt such a loss of love I wanted to deal with it in some way. I realised I was painting my best friends, Stanley and Boodgie. They sleep with me: I’m always with them here… They’re like little people to me. The subject wasn’t dogs, but my love of the little creatures.’
This feature originally appeared in the June 25, 2025 issue of Country Life. Click here for more information on how to subscribe
-
This converted mill is the epitome of bucolic beauty and its grounds were masterminded by one of the finest garden designers alive todayHunworth Mill is the very picture of bucolic bliss, with exquisite gardens created by Arne Maynard.
-
A romantic view of the countryside, hungry fish, and the world's most popular language: Country Life's Quiz of the Day, August 8, 2025Test your general knowledge in Friday's Quiz of the Day.
-
Reading al fresco: The best places in London to get lost in the written word, according to the Country Life teamIn London, north, east, south and west, there's a public place suitable for all performative acts of reading.
-
Marsh Harriers: The wetland-loving bird that defied the odds to reconquer British skiesMark Cocker's first ever sighting of the bird was at Minsmere, Suffolk, in 1976 — and he's never forgotten it.
-
Louis Wain: The Edwardian artist who was 'perhaps the best PR cats have ever had'The artist's fascination with cats is the subject of a show at Chris Beetles Gallery which will feature 25 previously unseen works by Wain.
-
Killer whales: The perilously rare and super-smart predator we risk loosing from British waters foreverThey’ve recently made headlines for interfering with boats, but intelligent, family-focused and remarkably long-lived orcas–better known as killer whales–contain multitudes.
-
‘Though she be but little, she is fierce’: Everything you didn't know about sparrowhawksScourge of the bird feeder and a master of ‘shock and awe’ assassinations, the sparrowhawk pursues its quarry with such tenacity and unpredictability that it often blindsides its prey.
-
An ode to Britain's wildflowers, from the London bloom which grew in the craters of the Blitz, to the weather-predicting scarlet pimpernelDecorating the land with their brilliant and varied hues, our native flora which operate as clocks, calendars and Nature’s medicine cabinet are blooming brilliant, says John Lewis-Stempel.
-
Sophia Money-Coutts: If I’m sending a thank you card to a friend, do I really have to address it to ‘Mrs W Butler’ as if it’s 1928?Sophia Money-Coutts is the new Debrett's and she's here every Wednesday to set some modern etiquette wrongs, right.
-
'F1 on water': SailGP makes a splash in PortsmouthSix years after it was founded, SailGP has got the wind behind its sails. What makes this sport, dubbed 'F1 on water', so compelling?
