Christine Merrill

American, 1963

Christine Merrill is America’s most extraordinary painter of dog portraits. She captures in oils the love and understanding of our canine companions, members of the family who rarely disapprove, never disappoint, but only offer unconditional love.

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Christine developed a passion for painting animals at a very young age. When she was two, Christine’s mother put a pencil in her hand and she immediately started drawing animals. She painted her first dog portrait at age 5. Rather than pursuing a conventional academic degree in the arts, she went to the traditional Schuler School of Fine Art in Baltimore, where she studied for five years under the school’s founder, Hans Schuler and his wife, Ann.

Since 1975, Christine Merrill has specialized in the depiction of dogs, completing commissions for clients across America as well as in Europe and Japan. Since 1990, her work has been represented by the William Secord Gallery in New York City, where she has had eight successful one-person exhibitions. It was through the gallery that in the summer of 1996 she also exhibited at The Isetan Gallery of Fine Arts in Tokyo. Christine Merrill’s work hangs in many private and public collections, including the American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog in Saint Louis. Her work is widely collected by dog lovers, including Mrs. Vincent Astor, Barbara Taylor Bradford, Geoffrey Beene,Bob Shieffer, and Oprah Winfrey, as well as many other prominent collectors.

In addition to her fine paintings, Christine Merrill has illustrated three children’s books by the acclaimed author and Newberry prize-winner, Jean George.

Courtesy Christine Merrill