Look inside the charming Edinburgh dog exhibition that’s already selling out of paintings

From Gainsborough’s portraits, to William Wegman’s weimaraner photographs, our pups have always been celebrated in art.

Woof! The Dog Show opens at the Morningside Gallery on Saturday May 24, and runs until June 8. It features 50 new pieces of work – mainly paintings but with a few sculptures in the mix – from the likes of Joe Hargan PAI PPAI, Gordon Mitchell RSA RSW, Joyce Gunn Cairns MBE, Stuart Buchanan and Gordon Wilson.

As Eileadh Swan, director of the venue, says: “It really is an incredible showcase of work from some wonderful contemporary artists, each with their own take on this timeless theme”.

To run alongside the exhibition, they’re hosting a children’s drawing competition, with illustrator and author Catherine Rayner, who created books including the Molly, Olive and Dexter series., as the head judge. They’ve already had around 700 entries from local schoolchildren, and the winning artworks will hang in the gallery alongside the main exhibition on Saturday May 31 and Sunday June 1, with an accompanying catalogue to feature all of the entries.

We asked Swan to tell us more about the exhibition.

Why did you decide to put together a dog-themed show?

One of our team is a dog lover and she had been researching famous dog paintings. She showed us various books and we chatted about Picasso and Hockney in particular. We also have a lot of doggy visitors to the gallery – Morningside and Bruntsfield are full of dogs and people do love them, so we thought it would be great to bring these two elements together – dogs in art and peoples’ love of dogs. There are all sorts of reasons why people buy and engage with art, but one of the main ones is that they find it meaningful and have an emotional connection to the work, so this exhibition really ticks that box. It’s also an opportunity to do something a little fun and really lean into the silly and joyful nature of dogs, and their individual characters. Just hanging the exhibition has already generated so much interest from passers-by, so we can’t wait to welcome everyone in to enjoy the show.

Why is Morningside such a dog-friendly area?

There are a lot of dog-friendly cafés and shops locally, plus so much green space for dogs and their owners to enjoy.

How did you decide on the shortlist of artists?

We asked many of our regular artists to take part – some of them occasionally feature dogs within their paintings and others were delighted to take up the theme and challenge. The exhibition is not a collection of dog portraits, but rather a celebration of dogs – the paintings featured often have a narrative and story and the dogs are part of a larger context. Others focus on the faces,the softness of the fur, or the naughty glint in the eye – there’s a real range within the exhibition but everything involves dogs in some way.

Some work has already sold, why do you think those particular pictures went so fast?

People often keep an eye out for new paintings from their favourite artists. We had a small dog painting by Fiona Macrae that everyone loved in our January 2025 Small Paintings Exhibition. A larger painting by the artist was the first to go this time as people were watching out for her work. Joe Hargan was quick to follow, again because his work has a large following – he often features dogs within his paintings (and cats!).

Are the sculptures as popular?

The Gemma Rees sculptures are very popular – they are lifelike and convey so much of the character of each dog. As a group in the window they create quite a stir with people gathering round, smiling and pointing out their favourites. They are just so engaging and even seem to warm the hearts of the doggy-indifferent.

Any personal favourites in the line-up?

I love Gordon Mitchell’s Peggy because it’s such a striking image. Also the big Joe Hargan painting A Question of Balance, as I’m a fan of the colour, composition and of course the dog painting within a dog painting – classic Hargan! And Richard Twose’s Green Sofa, which is sumptuous, poised and elegant, with the dog looking out at the viewer, a perfect subject. But there are just too many to choose one!

Tell us more about the children’s competition

We’ve often thought about connecting more with our local community in different ways. This started as a small idea and it’s really grown arms and legs. We thought we would get a hundred entries if we were lucky and planned a little catalogue, but have ended up with over 700 entries – we’re really bowled over by the enthusiasm. Illustrator and author Catherine Rayner agreed to judge the entries and we’re looking forward to sharing a digital catalogue of all of the works by these budding young artists. We will also enjoy welcoming some of the children to see the show and of course for the winners to see their entries hanging as part of the exhibition.

Will you do a cat-themed show in the future?

The exhibition is open to the public, with all welcome to the Private View from 2 – 4pm on May 24., Morningside Gallery, 94 Morningside Road, Edinburgh (0131 447 3041, www.morningsidegallery.co.uk)