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Artist donates Chow painting to KC collection

Paul Doyle, in a few short years has become one of the UK’s biggest selling and most popular painter of dogs. His modern contemporary style, unusual technique and humorous observations have captured to art buying publics imagination and his limited editions and collectors plates are now selling in large numbers, writes Paul Keevil.

In the six years that his dog paintings have been available as Limited Editions, he has grown from promising newcomer, to being short-listed as the ‘Published Artist of the Year’ by the arts trade leading association.

The Kennel Club is keen that their impressive collection of Canine Art, the finest in Europe, should also contain works by living contemporary artists and last year the KC received a donated painting by another top UK dog artist, John Silver, of three black labradors which are owned by The Kennel Club’s president, Prince Michael of Kent.

Paul is not one to stand on ceremony and is a quiet, modest man but he traveled to London recently from his home in the North to present his painting of three Chows personally to The Kennel Club. It was a low key affair, but the Library and press office were both represented as was Paul’s publishers, Sally Mitchell Fine Art and the donation was received by the KC’s chief executive Mrs Rosemary Smart, who expressed delight at being able to accept the painting and felt it important that contemporary artists be represented within the KC’s newly opened gallery.

The painting of three Chows was originally started a couple of years back, following a commission from a Scandinavian Chow enthusiast. The client was later to withdraw from the commission, but Paul so liked the picture, he asked if there was any objection if he finished it for the open market.

Other colours

In the process, the dogs changed colour, (all three were originally to be black), as not now being confined to a client’s brief, meant that Paul was able to include other colours within the breed.

The finished work shows a black, a red and a fawn in a wooded landscape, which looks very Scandinavian and as with so many of Paul’s works the background is painted by ‘air brush’.

The painting will shortly be available as a Limited Edition print from Paul’s publishers, bringing his published limited editions to about 100.

The continued donations of contemporary art work by living artists and the newly opened KC gallery space does raise the following question in my mind: how long it will be before the Kennel Club holds it’s first contemporary dog art exhibition in their new exhibition and gallery space? Not too long I suspect.