Portrait of Pugs Tops Dorotheum 19th Century Paintings and Watercolors Auction

At Vienna’s Dorotheum auction house last night, bidders traded the dogged determination of London’s contemporary auctions last week to push the market to new heights for, well, dogs. Two portraits of dog families by Carl Reichert finished in the top ten lots of Monday afternoon’s auction of 19th Century Paintings and Watercolors. Long before William Wegman, Reichert took up the dog as his subject of choice. From droopy-eyed Newfoundlands to spritely Boston terriers, Reichert’s brush spewed canines galore. At the Dorotehum, Familie Mops (est. US$ 3450-4800), an oval portrait of a family of four pugs, topped the evening’s tally at US$19,000. A testament to the breed’s stronghold on the zeitgeist? Perhaps. Its counterpart, Hundefamilie (also est. est. US$ 3450-4800), in which Reichert opted for a quartet of miniature pinschers, went for US$8,600. Both were undated.

Results across the rest of the sale were expectedly tepid for its minor date on the auction calendar. Over half of the lots went unsold. Dorotheum’s major spring 2014 auctions are set for April 8-10th.

— artnet News