The Twa Dogs
(2020)
by
Sally Matthews
Sally Matthews (b. 1964) is an English artist and sculptor best known for her animal sculptures (a focus that may be influenced by the fact her father was a veterinarian.)
The Twa Dogs was commissioned for the grounds of the Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, located in Ayrshire, Scotland. It is a representation of Burns' well-known poem "The Twa Dogs" (discussed here at The Cultured Newf), which takes the form of a conversation between a collie — named Luath, after Burns' own collie — and a Newfoundland, named Caesar. He's the one seated on the bench in Matthews' bronze sculpture. He may not look much like Newfoundlands as we know them today, but that's because Matthews did her homework; in the late 18th Century, Newfs would likely have been slighter than they are now, and often had a lot of curl in their coats. (Besides, Matthews is obviously not working in a strictly realistic style.)
Click here for a discussion of this sculpture and Matthews' creation of it.
Burns' poem "The Twa Dogs" was the influence for an earlier artwork as well, Edwin Landseer's 1822 painting The Twa Dogs, discussed here at The Cultured Newf.