Lump, The Dog That Lived With Picasso

Lump was a smooth haired Dachshund who is almost as well known in artistic circles as Whistler’s Mother having been immortalised in paint by his adopted master, Pablo Picasso.  In Picasso’s reinterpretation of Velazquez’s ‘Las Meninas’, the short stumpy Dachshund replaces the hound in the foreground.  Picasso painted 44 studies in his ‘Meninas’ series and Lump appears in 15 of them.

Lump originally lived with photographer David Douglas Duncan but he found that his owner’s nomadic lifestyle plus the jealous Afghan hound that shared his home were not quite to his taste.  In 1957, on a visit to the home of Picasso with his then owner, Duncan, Lump decided he had found his perfect domicile.  He was moving in whether invited or not!  Thus he started his new life at the artist’s villa in Cannes.

Picasso had always owned dogs and had a Boxer at the time but Lump obviously found a way into his heart and was the only dog that he would pick up and cuddle.  The children Claude and Paloma loved to play with Lump too and for many years he led a charmed life enjoying the antics of his adopted master and visits from such celebrities as Yves Montand and Simone Signoret.

Sadly in 1963 when Duncan was paying his regular visit to Picasso, he learned that Lump was unwell with a spinal problem and was being cared for by a vet in Cannes.  Duncan went to visit him and on hearing that Lump could not be cured, he took the dog away with him.  He drove to Stuttgart in Germany, where he had bought the dog originally and found a vet willing to take care of him.  Eventually Duncan went back to collect Lump but the little dog never visited Picasso again.

Duncan was adamant that Picasso had not ill-treated the dog and that he would have got sick anyway.

Picasso had said of Lump, “he’s not a dog, he’s not a little man, he’s somebody else.”

In 1973 Lump died.  Picasso died one week later.

The relationship between Picasso and Lump is beautifully recorded in photographic form in a book by David Douglas Duncan called ‘Lump the Dog who ate Picasso’ published by Thames and Hudson.


Dachshund Facts

• The literal meaning of the word Dachshund is badger hound.  These dogs were used originally to follow badgers and foxes to earth.   They are also known in Britain as the ‘sausage dog’.

• It is thought that the breed originated in Germany 400 years ago although there is pictorial evidence of dogs of a similar shape dating back thousands of years in Egypt, South America and China.

• The Dachshund can be prone to intervertebral disc disease most likely due to its conformation.

• It is thought that the oldest Dachshund is the standard smooth haired, but Dachshunds can be wire-haired and long-haired.  Miniatures can be smooth or wire-haired.

• The Dachshund is said to have been a favourite of Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort.  The first was Deckel who was brought over from Germany in 1845.


References:
 
Wikipaedia