Lump and Beanie

Last Spring I purchased a small hard-back book featuring Picasso and his dachshund at a boutique bookstore. The photographs caught my attention first – they’re really wonderful – highlighting his wiener dog named Lump (little rascal in German) at his famous home in France. Lump used to belong to Picasso’s photographer who documented his artistic life and family. The frequent visits eventually led Lump to stay with the artist, and became Picasso’s close companion for the last seventeen years of his life. In fact, both Picasso and Lump died in the same year.

And I’ve heard multiple times that dachshunds are popular pets for artists. I went ahead and researched this phenomenon, finding truth in this assertion. Diego Rivera, Frieda Kahlo, Rubens, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Da Vinci (his dachshund was named Mona), Picasso, O’Keeffe, and Warhol all owned canines of this breed. Some claim it’s because a dachshund’s nature is creative.

I too have a little dachshund, named Beanie Wienie (we just call him Beanie for short), who’s one of the sweetest creatures on this planet. And while I could talk about him for pages like any other dog owner could for their pet, I won’t and will spare you from gagging. He’s simply “the best dog in the world.” He’s a fighter too, though. This past summer he was bit by a rattlesnake on the eye, was at death’s doorstep for a few days, and finally came through, but with one eye less. It just enhances his character. Now he’s my little pirate, and while he may not be my “artistic muse” necessarily, he is nonetheless inspirational.