At a time when women could struggle to carve out a career as an artist, there was a niche they excelled at – painting dogs. And to show off that niche, an exhibition has opened, displaying over 120 doggy artworks painted by women.

Appropriately, it’s at the Royal Kennel Club, and almost emphasising how normalised the idea of women painting dogs was, about half the club’s art collection was painted by women. That is compared to a tiny fraction of historic female artists in most art galleries.

The exhibition spans three centuries and charts the evolution of dog portraiture, from early stately portraits of working animals to modern pets and, of course, Crufts winners.

Many of the women represented here faced significant barriers. Formal training opportunities were limited, galleries were reluctant to exhibit their work, and professional recognition was often difficult to achieve. Yet dog portraiture offered a rare opportunity to earn a living from artistic talent, thanks to a steady stream of commissions from devoted pet owners and breeders.

Among the highlights are works by celebrated canine artists Maud Earl, Lilian Cheviot and Fanny Moody, all of whom built successful careers through dog commissions alone. Their paintings demonstrate not only technical skill but also an ability to capture the distinctive personalities of their subjects, elevating what might otherwise have been dismissed as a specialist genre.

There are cute paintings, stern paintings, dogs looking puzzled, lazy, or outright bored. There are some sculptures, including one of a dog that won the PDSA Dickin Medal in 1945, and plenty of plates depicting classic hunting-dog country scenes.

A pastel by Lucy Dawson is of Dookie, the first corgi owned by Queen Elizabeth II. There’s a second painting of the queen and dog on the ground floor – right in front of you as you leave the lift.

Of all the maybe somewhat conventional paintings in the display, the modern watercolour painted just this year by Amy Bach was probably my favourite for its more abstract approach.

As an exhibition, it’ll likely appeal to anyone either interested in dogs or animal portraiture in general.

It’s free to visit and open Monday to Friday from 9:30am to 4:30pm, but you do need to book in advance, which you can do by email or phone.

Booking details at the bottom of this page.

The exhibition, Leaders of the Pack: The Women of The Royal Kennel Club Art Collection, is open until 26th March 2027.

The Royal Kennel Club is on Clarges Street, a few minutes walk from Green Park tube station.