Calling All Canines: The Kimbell Announces Free National Dog Day Event

FORT WORTH, TX—In honor of its newest acquisition, Dog Guarding a Basket of Grapes (1836) by Austrian artist Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, the Kimbell Art Museum announces the “Kimbell Dog Day” celebration event on Friday, August 26, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Coinciding with #NationalDogDay, this free community event invites art lovers and their four-legged friends for dog-friendly activities on the Kimbell lawn. Tickets are free but required; go to kimbellart.org.

At 5:30 p.m., visitors and their dogs can embark on a docent-led outdoor architecture tour of the Kimbell’s Louis I. Kahn Building and Renzo Piano Pavilion. The evening will conclude with a “Best in Show” parade starting at 6:30 p.m. featuring local celebrity judges Nancy Lamb, visual artist; Laura Lape, social media personality; and master of ceremonies Tony Green, host of “Hello, I’m Tony Green,” NBC Texas Today correspondent and host of the “On the Same Page” podcast. Award categories include the dog that looks most like the new acquisition, dog with the best costume, largest dog and smallest dog.

Visitors can enjoy refreshments and light bites for purchase from the Kimbell Café during Happy Hour; an outdoor bar will be available for dog owners. Local vendors include the Melt ice cream truck and Pelican SnoBalls, serving ice cream treats and shaved ice for both humans and canines. Sam the Artist will offer free custom pet portraits as supplies last. Visitors can also participate in art-making activities with Kimbell educators on the Kahn porticos.

Dog Guarding a Basket of Grapes will be on view for the first time on Friday, August 26, in the Kahn Building. An animal-themed scavenger hunt through the galleries will challenge visitors to find all the Kimbell dogs on view in works across the permanent collection. Those who complete the scavenger hunt will receive a special prize, as supplies last.

Only service animals are permitted in museum buildings. All dogs must remain on a leash at all times. Dog owners must pick up after their pets. A water and cooling station will be available outside for dogs and dog owners.

About Dog Guarding a Basket of Grapes

Dog Guarding a Basket of Grapes is an impressive painting by Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, one of the most important and innovative Austrian artists of the 19th century. Merging several genres, Dog Guarding a Basket of Grapes (1836) demonstrates Waldmüller’s mastery of animal portraiture, still life and landscape, as well as his uncanny ability to capture diverse textures and surfaces, such as the bristling fur of the watchdog, the varicolored hues of the grapes and the dusky atmosphere of the background. Read the acquisition announcement.

ABOUT THE KIMBELL ART MUSEUM

The Kimbell Art Museum, owned and operated by the Kimbell Art Foundation, is internationally renowned for both its collections and its architecture. The Kimbell’s collections range in period from antiquity to the 20th century and include European masterpieces by artists such as Fra Angelico, Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Bernini, Velázquez, Vigée Le Brun, Monet, Cézanne, Picasso and Matisse; important collections of Egyptian and classical antiquities; and the art of Asia, Africa and the Ancient Americas.

The museum’s 1972 building, designed by the American architect Louis I. Kahn, is widely regarded as one of the outstanding architectural achievements of the modern era. A second building, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, opened in 2013 and now provides space for special exhibitions, dedicated classrooms and a 289-seat auditorium with excellent acoustics for music. For more information, visit kimbellart.org.