8/10/2019 Profile of William Wegman

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Every artist needs a muse.Picasso was inspired by Fran-oise Gilot (among others), PaulGauguin by his ahitian beauty

ehaamana, and Andrew Wyeth by Helgaestorf. William Wegman, the multifac-

eted, world-famous artist and photogra-pher, is no exception.

As Wegman lunches with a visitor athis Maine lakeside retreat, several of hisbeautiful, trim muses sit nearby, theirbig eyes following his every gesture,their oppy ears listening to every word.Suddenly, he tosses a piece of ham on theoor and they all scamper, their toenailsskittering and scraping along the weath-ered pine oor as they tussle for the treat.

Weimaraners, says Wegman, with

Dog DaysAt his home in Maine,William Wegman shows whyworldwide acclaim for his art goesfar beyond his iconic Weimaranerphotographs. / / / / / / / / / / /

BY ROBERT KIENER

ABOVE: Leaf Line (2005), pigment print, 44 H 36 W. LEFT: Walker (1990), color Polaroid,24 H 20 W

ARTISTRY

only a hint of a wry smile, makebeautiful models. As one of his four-legged muses ambles over to lick hishand, he adds, But theyre alwayshungry.

o his legions of devoted fans,William Wegman is largely knownas the dog photographer. His drollphotographs of the charismaticcaninesall his and all Weimara-nersoften dressed and posed inhumorous and outrageous situations,have been featured in dozens ofbooks and scores of one-man shows.

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ARTISTRY

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: For a Moment... (1971),silver gelatin print, 14 H 11 W; Sandy Beach(2007), oil and postcards on wood panel, 14 7 8 H 19 7 8 W; Accident? So Sorry (1997), altered greetingcard, 14 H 11 W; Still pictures from the videoMuseum (2002), 58 seconds long; Souvenir (2001),watercolor and postcards on paper, 18 H 22 W.FACING PAGE: The artist at work.

Wegman, a native of Holyoke, Massachu-setts, is more than a dog photographer. As one New York Timesart reviewer noted,Mr. Wegman is one of the most impor-tant artists to emerge from the headyexperiments of the 1970s.

Te key word here is artist. Althoughhe has carved out a successful career as aphotographer, he is also a much-admiredpainter. He produces drawings and vid-eos, too. His lms and videos have beenfeatured on Saturday Night Live, SesameStreet, and Nickelodeon.

As Wegman shows off the cavernous,

His photographs and artwork are in thepermanent collections of the Museumof Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Smithsonian Ameri-can Art Museum, and more.

But the tousle-haired, self-effacing

10,000-square-foot former lodge thathe calls home every summer, he pointsout several paintings that he describesas works in progress in his spacious,light-lled rst-oor studio, formerly thelodges kitchen. Te large-scale, colorful,collage-like works feature vintage post-cards; Wegman uses them as a startingpoint, painting around them to incorpo-rate them into a scene. I love prowlingthrough Maine to nd these lovely oldpostcards, he says. Painting, he reveals,is his rst love and the reason he went tothe Massachusetts College of Art in 1965

8/10/2019 Profile of William Wegman

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and earned an MFA from the Universityof Illinois in 1967.

Wegman spends part of the year in aNew York City apartment that he shareswith his two children, his art-book pub-lisher wife, Christine Burgin, and theirdogs. He often retreats to this place inwestern Maine. My work seems to befreer up here, compared with my work inmy New York studio, he says.

As if on cue, his famous models come

charging into the studio. Tats Flo, op-per, Candy, and Bobbin, says Wegman.He picks up opper and sets him gingerlyon a high stool to illustrate how the dogloves to pose. Hes a natural model andlikes to work, the artist says. Each of thedogs has a unique personality; some liketo pose, others not so much.

Wegman has come to terms with whatsome have called Wegman, Inc., theever-expanding universe of calendars,childrens books, -shirts, posters, prints,videos, and more, all of which feature hisiconic Weimaraners. He confesses he oncefelt nailed to the dog cross. I used to feelhemmed in by the dog photographerlabel, but Ive gotten over that.

Ten, almost as an aside, he adds, ruth is, Im not really a dog person.

Hes kidding, right?No, Im serious, he explains. For

example, I dont like little dogs or any-thing doggy. Weimaraners arent reallydoggy. Tey are dogs, but theyre notdoggy dogs.

He turns to Flo, opper, Candy, andBobbin, who seem to have been hangingon his every word. Lets go, guys, hesays. Time for a walk in the woods.

EDITORS NOTE To see more of Wegmans work, go towilliamwegman.com

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