William Wegman: The Dog Calendar Guy

William Wegman, Man Ray Contemplating Man Ray, ca. 1976

I was reading some books about contemporary art and William Wegman was one of the first artists whose name and work I recognized from recent years. I particularly remember his work from calendars displayed at booksellers in shopping malls and such before many of them began to disappear. Signs of the times.

William Wegman, White Out, 2014

As I studied more about Wegman I actually learned that his artistic work had been exhibited since the 1970s, actually. These early works were also photographs of his pet Weimaraner whom he called Man Ray, and were exhibited stateside and abroad in places like New York, Paris, and London. The earliest works were depictions of Man Ray (pre-1982), and later, after Man Ray died, a new dog named Fay Ray (post-1986) and her puppies (post-1989). Clearly Wegman was dedicated to one particular endearing subject that lasted for decades. Along with wall calendars Wegman also published a couple of books that were photo collections of the dogs.

William Wegman, Self-Portrait with Man Ray Reading the Papers, 1970

One thing that particularly stands out about the work of Wegman, who was often displayed alongside photographic works by Anne Geddes, is his association with those years of late 80s - early 2000s, and the way people dressed during those times. The fashions worn by the dogs was very contemporary of the times and is quite similar to studio portraits of people old and young in similar fashions and settings.

Images: via Oberlin College