Pets of the Art World! Meet 15 of the Adorable (Yet Edgy) Furry Friends Keeping Artists, Gallerists, and Curators Sane These Days

Perhaps the only beneficiaries of the pandemic today are pets,
who are suddenly getting around-the-clock attention while their
owners work from home. And the joys are mutual: With their fluffy
cuddles, unconditional love, and inability to talk back, pets make
great quarantine companions for people, too.

We asked art world insiders to share pictures of their whiskered
work-from-home buddies, and how they’re helping to make this
difficult time a little bit sweeter.

Maria
(George Condo’s Cat)

“Here’s a shot of Maria sitting
on my drawing paper in the dining room. We are having quite a bit
of ‘alone time’ these days. She likes to try to chase the pencil
around while it’s in my hand and I’m trying to work! It’s great to
have a pet to make art with… they are so nonjudgmental.”

—George Condo,
artist

Cleo
(Lydia Benglis’s Dachshund)

“Cleo is the boss!”

– Lynda Benglis,
artist

Albee and Noonan
(Barbara Gladstone’s Labrador Retrievers)

“Albee and Noonan have helped me keep a rigid schedule during
this quarantine. In between meetings, we all go to a remote nature
preserve on Long Island for a long walk together. It’s been very
helpful for all of us to get outside, and they have such fun
roaming around and swimming.

Both dogs from the organization Puppies Behind
Bars, an organization that trains prison inmates to raise
service dogs for wounded war veterans and first responders, as well
as explosive-detection canines for law enforcement.”

—Barbara Gladstone, gallery owner

Harper
(Julia Halperin’s Newshound)

“Harper is extremely into my personal social isolation but very
bad at social distancing.”

—Julia Halperin, executive editor, Artnet News

PEACE Pigeon Coop
(Anton van Dalen’s Pigeons) 

“Pigeons first brought poetry to
me as child growing up in Holland. They became my lifelong sweet
travel companions, along on an at times rocky migratory path,
calming down my anxious mind to quiet, and again today at this time
of the extremely worrisome COVID-19 virus outbreak, they steady my
being.”

—Anton van Dalen,
artist

Bert
(Kathy Grayson’s Pomeranian)

“Bert is a serotonin distributor, you don’t even have to pet
him; it works just by looking at him.”

—Kathy Grayson, owner The Hole

Princess Buttercup
(Caroline Goldstein’s Jug [Jack Russell x Pug])

“Princess Buttercup is thrilled to have a captive audience
whilst her humans are social distancing.”

—Caroline Goldstein, editorial assistant, Artnet
News

Houdini “Dini”
Curtiss-King
(Clinton King and Julie Curtiss’s Cat)

“This is the longest period of
time Dini and I have spent time together (just him and I). Together
we are learning how to cope without mom [artist Julie Curtiss, who
is self-isolating in France]. He’s now always on my desk for a
change. Every morning and night we have long and strenuous
conversations about behavior, eating habits, and personal space.
Dini enjoys sitting on my books and watching me struggle through
beginner yoga poses. All the while I enjoy his presence. In other
words we are making the best of it. To be honest, I couldn’t make
it without him… just don’t let him know that.”

—Clinton King,
artist

Finnegan, Molly, and
Winston Kelly
(Sean Kelly’s Arf Handlers)

“Even the dogs are adopting social distancing measures in the
Kelly household.”

—Sean Kelly, gallery owner

Hubert
(Andrea Schwan’s Dachshund)

“He’s the perfect isolation buddy, and makes an occasional
appearance in the endless Zoom meetings that consume the days.”

—Andrea Schwan, arts publicist 

Bar
(Michal Rovner’s Dog)

“At night, I see from the desert
my new wild dog, who is not aware of what the world is going
through. I’m not allowed to travel, I don’t fly, I feel like a bird
whose wings are shorter, but when I hear the birds around me, I am
one of them.”

– Michal Rovner,
artist

Olga
(Rachel Corbett’s Cat)

“My 18-year-old cat Olga is a frail and sensitive friend who is
wonderfully indifferent to all our troubles.”

—Rachel Corbett, deputy editor, Artnet News

Rocky
(Jessica Dawson’s Dogcurator)

“Rocky is contemplating what the
end of butt sniffing means for networking in the art
world.”

—Jessica Dawson, art critic
and curator of dOGUMENTA

Jones
(Taylor Dafoe’s Boston Terrier)

“Like the rest of us, Jones is doing his best. He’s adopted a
‘rules are meant to be broken’ stance toward social distancing. And
somehow he hasn’t gotten his sourdough starter to take.”

—Taylor Dafoe, news reporter, Artnet News

Merce and Jasper
(Pac Pobric’s Cats)

“Merce and Jasper have taken their newfound extra hours to plan
their next salon wall installation.”

—Pac Pobric, managing editor, Artnet News

The post Pets of the Art World! Meet 15 of the Adorable (Yet
Edgy) Furry Friends Keeping Artists, Gallerists, and Curators Sane
These Days appeared first on artnet News.