Dankoff – charcoal

Price does not include shipping.

c.1967, Karl Weschke

Edition Number: N/A
Unsigned, but sold directly for one of the Weschke family members.

Framed in a reconditioned white painted 1970s solid wood frame. The drawing has had a light clean to remove some of the acid discolouration from the paper and surface marks removed. The paper still has a little discolouration and some light damage to the paper at the bottom, which is mounted out (see photographs).

Mounted in conservation standard board.

Dankoff features in a number of drawings, prints and oil paintings by Karl Weschke. Sometimes, it’s easy to assume his appearance is a metaphorical or allegorical one, where the hound replaces the artist as the character in the work, or has a distinct message to offer. This charcoal drawing is perhaps more straight-forward, as recounted here by a member of the Weschke family:

“There is much in this remarkable study that characterises Dankoff, the fine Russian wolf hound who came to live at Ruston in 1965, and Weschke has perfectly captured his fluidity of movement. Weschke identified with Dankoff in a number of ways, the most obvious being that they were both foreigners – outsiders. Weschke observed with humour that Dankoff simply knew he was not like other dogs. They had a particular bond, each somehow understanding the inescapable isolation of the other. When Weschke went to live in the Cotwolds for three years, Dankoff would sit in the yard looking up the lane in the evening. Although he had a disability which prevented him from pushing his body to its limits, he could easily run abreast of a car travelling at 30 mph and put his head in the window. This image epitomises Dankoff approaching to greet you.”