David Hockney's Dog Days

David Hockney's Dog Days is the slightest of books, but that may be just fine for dachshund lovers, who will be its best audience. Hockney's drawings and paintings of his two dogs are full of tender love. They are "not very good models," he says. "One knock on the door is enough to make them leap up." So he paints them snoozing, mostly horizontal (as dachshunds usually are), and mostly on yellow and blue backgrounds, which can be monotonous. These are not the dachshunds of Pierre Bonnard, who made strange black holes in otherwise glorious canvasses. No matter: Hockney offers "no apologies." Speaking as a dog lover, he explains, "These two little creatures are my friends."