The Illustrated Dog

I was browsing around Gene de Chene on Santa Monica Blvd last night looking for a $5 copy of the dog whisperer's book when I came across a big beautiful tome called Dogs by a Dutch artist named Rien Poortvliet. Mr. Poortvliet, as my boyfriend informed me, is better known as "the Gnomes guy."


Well, nothing against gnomes, but Dogs is a great book, full of paintings and personal anecdotes on a variety of breeds. I preferred the pages of journal-like writing and informal sketches to the full-page portraits, but it's all good stuff. Clearly a labor of love.

Poortvliet died in 1995, but if you're a fan, you can visit the Rien Poortvliet Museum in Middelharnis in the Netherlands and see his work up close. Or you can just buy the book!