Head of a Dog
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1870
No print size passed the check for this piece: at 8 x 10 in, Wrong shape: a 12% crop. We would rather show it than sell a soft print.
See pieces like it you can buyA close-up of a soft-eared dog's head, painted the year before Impressionism had a name. Renoir applied the palette he used for young women's faces — warm shadow, melting edge — to a dog, and it works completely.
- Maker
- Pierre-Auguste Renoir
- Date
- 1870
- Medium of the original
- Oil on canvas
- Original held by
- National Gallery of Art, Washington
- Credit
- National Gallery of Art, Washington · via Wikimedia Commons
- Rights
- Public domain, verified
- Catalogue number
- PA-01866
Before a size goes on sale, the file is measured against it: pixels per inch at that size, how much of the picture a crop would lose, tone and sharpness. A size that fails is not offered, so there is nothing to choose wrong.
| Size | Why |
|---|---|
| 8 x 10 in | Wrong shape: a 12% crop |
| 8 x 12 in | Wrong shape: a 27% crop |
| 11 x 14 in | Wrong shape: a 14% crop |
| 12 x 16 in | Wrong shape: a 18% crop |
| 12 x 18 in | Wrong shape: a 27% crop |
| 16 x 20 in | Wrong shape: a 12% crop |
| 16 x 24 in | Wrong shape: a 27% crop |
| 18 x 24 in | Wrong shape: a 18% crop |
| 20 x 30 in | Wrong shape: a 27% crop |
| 24 x 30 in | Wrong shape: a 12% crop |
| 24 x 36 in | Wrong shape: a 27% crop |
| 30 x 40 in | Wrong shape: a 18% crop |
| 36 x 48 in | Wrong shape: a 18% crop |
| 40 x 60 in | Wrong shape: a 27% crop |
- Scanned
- 2026-10-07
- Master file
- 1,920 x 2,108 px, srgb
- Tone
- Darks 45, lights 178 of 255; 0% clipped light, 0% clipped dark
- Colour
- 0% vivid
- Sharpness
- 56.93
- Notes
- Neutrals lean warm (yellow): the paper and varnish of the original, kept as scanned
Best in Show
Art has always known who the good ones are.
All 153 pieces from Best in Show
