About this Event
Join us at Mrs. Dalloway's on Wednesday, June 3 at 7:00 PM when award-winning Berkeley historian Thomas W. Laqueur presents his latest book The Dog's Gaze: A Visual History. Thomas will be joined in conversation by Mark Danner and will sign copies of his book after the presentation.
to preorder a copy of The Dog's Gaze.
Long before the phrase man’s best friend became common parlance, dogs were already standing beside us in art as in life. In The Dog’s Gaze, the historian Thomas W. Laqueur invites us to explore why they feature more than any other animal in the ways in which we picture ourselves and our stories.
Dogs have been ubiquitous in the worldmaking of visual artists as far back as the Paleolithic age. Looking across the Western tradition, from Giotto to Goya and Rubens to Rego, Laqueur shows what their presence—as hunting partners, beloved friends, and even conduits to the afterlife—reveals about our own ways of seeing and how we want to be remembered. Far from being mere motifs, dogs are an integral and intentional element of the images in which they appear: They provide narrative coherence; they look out and bear witness, often on the artist’s behalf; they illuminate our understanding of morality and melancholy and some, like us, become celebrities. Indeed, as Laqueur reveals, dogs in art are our social doppelgängers, our companions in looking and being.
Richly illustrated and lovingly written, The Dog’s Gaze is a unique visual history that examines the remarkable social bond between two species, shedding new light on the human condition through the eyes of our canine companions.
THOMAS W. LAQUEUR is the Helen Fawcett Distinguished Professor of History Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. An internationally renowned cultural historian, he has published books on topics ranging from working class religion and education to the history of sexuality and the body. He is a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society and recipient of the 2007 Mellon Foundation Distinguished Achievement Award and the 2016 Cundill History Prize. His work has been translated into twenty languages.
MARK DANNER is a writer and educator who writes on war, violence and politics. A longtime staff writer for The New Yorker, he has published six books and scores of articles and covered wars in Central America, Bosnia, Haiti, Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East. His work has been honored with a National Magazine Award, a Guggenheim, an Emmy, three Overseas Press Awards and a MacArthur Fellowship. He has taught at Berkeley since 1998 and is currently the Class of 1961 Distinguished Chair in Undergraduate Education.
THIS EVENT is free but registration is requested. Registration ends at 6:30 pm on June 3.
BECAUSE SEATING is limited, please register only if you plan to attend.
DUE TO SPACE limitations, we may not be able to accommodate every person at an event, so early registration is encouraged.
WALK-INS will be accommodated only if space allows.
WE ASK that attendees arrive between 6:45 and 7:00 PM for the event.
PLEASE leave your non-support companion animals at home.
OUR shared restrooms are not accessible after 6:30 PM, please plan accordingly.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Mrs Dalloway's, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, United States
USD 0.00
