Griffon blanc

A griffon is a small, wire-haired dog, the sort kept for company rather than work, and here one sits in pale, loaded strokes against a dark ground. Monticelli painted it around 1880, in his last Marseille years, when he was working fast and selling for a few francs at a time. He gave the white coat real thickness, letting ridges of paint stand up off the surface so the fur seems to catch the light rather than just be drawn. Animals turn up often in his late work, handled with the same speed and relish as his flowers. There is no elaborate setting and no story attached to the dog, only its bright shape held in the gloom, which is most of what he asked of it.