A Newfoundland Dog in a Landscape (1830s-1840s?) (oil on canvas, 71.1 x 123.8cm (28 x 48 3/4in))
by
Follower of Sir Edwin Henry Landseer
About the only thing we know about this picture — undated and by an unknown artist — is that it depicts a Newfoundland dog, albeit one that does not much resemble Newfs as we know them today. The short, curly coat is commonly seen in Newf images — and written descriptions — from the first several decades of the 19th Century. This depiction of a Newfoundland is, if I may get opinionated for a moment, rather generously described as by a "follower" of Sir Edwin Landseer, for while our unknown artist may have been motivated by a desire to emulate Landseer's magnificent Newfoundlands, this painting lacks the grandeur, vivacity, and sense of immediacy and presence that characterize Landseer's Newfoundland paintings.
