2013 Gallipoli Art Prize winner Peter Wegner with his entry Dog With Gas Mask. Picture: Robert Barker Source: Supplied
THE phrase "dogs of war" evokes the unleashing of fury and violence, but dog-loving Melbourne artist Peter Wegner has won the Gallipoli art prize by depicting the softer side of canines in combat.
His "confronting" oil painting shows a dog wearing a gas mask.
It's a homage to the many roles dogs have played in conflicts from World War I, when mustard gas was first used, right through to Afghanistan - as messengers, sentinels, mascots, in searching for wounded soldiers and just as importantly as morale boosters.
"A lot of soldiers would have had dogs at home, and the physicality of patting and hugging them in a faraway war setting would have given these young men a calming connection to home," said Wegner.
His win in the $20,000 prize, announced in Sydney today, shows that man's best friend can be a soldier's and an artist's best friend.
The Gallipoli Memorial Club's prize rewards the work which best exemplifies the Gallipoli virtues of mateship, respect, loyalty and comradeship.
"In a time of war these human qualities extended to the care and guardianship of one of man's best mates," said Wegner.
"Dogs are an often forgotten member of the forces. Special gas masks were made for them as well as horses."
His painting was based on a drawing he made after seeing a World War I photo, but the dog on his canvas was imaginary.
He hopes it provokes viewers to wonder what is happening to this dog, and to ask more questions than can be answered.
Wegner has a passion for painting dogs, and, since losing his own dog three years ago, has borrowed many of his friends' pets to sit for him.
"A lot of dogs come into my studio, but the dogs I do paint aren't cute," he said.
Like many artists competing for the Gallipoli prize, Wegner has family connections to war. He still paints many of the Rats of Tobruk, now in their 90s, because his uncle was one.
And his grandfather died in France four days before the end of WWI, leaving behind three young children including his mother.
The 59-year-old Wegner has been an exhibiting painter, sculptor and draughtsman for more than 30 years.
He won the Doug Moran Prize in 2006 and his work is on show at the National Library, the National Portrait Gallery and the State Library of Victoria.
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