The AKC Museum Of The Dog Hits Its Stride

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194 – October, 2024

By Amy Fernandez

Art has always been inseparable from purebred culture. Commissioning portraits of favorite dogs is a longstanding tradition and dog lovers have always been, by extension, art lovers and art collectors. In a formal sense, this aspect of our sport took shape with the establishment of the AKC Library. After half a century, AKC had finally asserted itself as the nation’s central voice of purebred dogs. Along the way, the institution accumulated an ever-growing collection of books, memorabilia and artwork. This legacy represented the history of the sport. No one doubted its importance, but all that stuff was taking up a lot of room. The first attempt to deal with it became the AKC Library in 1934. The library, then and now, possesses a world-class collection, well over 18,000 volumes. It was also open to the public for research, which provided a side opportunity to offer ongoing displays of the organization’s treasure trove of art and memorabilia.

AKC eventually relocated to accommodate its growing workforce. But the combination library/art collection remained the status quo until outside events prompted a rethink of this somewhat chaotic approach. Alan Fausel, famed art historian and star of the Antiques Roadshow, explains the beginning of the Museum of the Dog. “This is an art collection and it was formed in the wake of those Sotheby’s auctions in the 1970s following the death of Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge.” Her contributions to the sport defy any neat definition. She created Morris & Essex, of course, but she also made enormous contributions as a breeder and exhibitor, campaigning an incredible number of iconic dogs, from Nancolleth Markable, winner of Westminster 1932 to Ferry von Rauhfelsen of Giralda, the first Doberman to do the same. She was a driving force in English Cockers and German Shepherds, and she kept Bloodhounds in the spotlight for years when the breed was spiraling into obscurity, campaigning Ch. Brigadier of Reynalton to multiple BIS wins during the 1930s.

Click here to read the complete article
194 – October, 2024

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Posted by AnthonyA on Oct 14 2024. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.