Last week saw the passing of Deanna Durbin, the wholesome star of Depression-era films, who wryly called her image that of “Little Miss Fix-It Who Bursts into Song.” Her stardom was meteoric and for a short 12-year period, she was hugely popular. Both Winston Churchill and Anne Frank were fans. Durbin is shown here with her beloved dog Tippy, said to have been purchased at a pet store for $2.

Bark contributor, Saverio Truglia, sends us this photo of his Beagle, Petie. Its unofficial title is “No guts, no glory.” Both Saverio and Petie live in Chicago.

“A Woman and Her Dog in Harlem” by Gordon Parks. New York City, 1943. The city celebrates the centennial of this important photographer, writer, filmmaker at New York’s Schomberg Center, focusing on Park’s documentation of African Americans in Harlem and Washington, D.C., during the 1940s. The International Center of Photography has created a free public art installation featuring Park’s photographs in a large-scale photo mural and slideshow visible from the sidewalk.

Every time I go near the stove, the dog howls …

—Phyllis Diller

William Wegman, Camofleur, 1992, Color Polaroid, 24 x 20 inches
Multimedia artist William Wegman, raised in rural Massachusetts, has long been influenced by the New England landscape, and in William Wegman: Hello Nature, more than 100 pieces of his Maine-inspired photography, video, painting and drawings are showcased. Bowdoin College Museum of Art, through October 21, 2012.

“Hermits of the Third Millennium” is a series of photographs taken by Carlo Bevilacqua of individuals who live in self-imposed isolation from society. One of his subjects lives in a canyon near the Amalfi Coast in Italy with his dogs. The photographs are on display in an exhibit entitled “Into the Silence” in Cortona, Italy, through Sept. 30, as part of the Cortona On the Move Photography Festival.

What a smile this little dog is flashing! Our friend and contributor, Christina Gandolfo, shares this irresistible photo of Jack. Just one of many delightful four-legged portraits she has in her portfolio.

July 17, marks the anniversary of the 1959 death of Billie Holiday. She had a lifelong love of dogs noted her friend Lena Horne, when the two jazz divas were together, they talked often about Billie’s dogs—”her animals were her only trusted friends.” In 1947, photographer William Gottlieb captured Holiday and her dog, Mister, in a makeshift studio he constructed in the back of a nightclub.

Something wickedly funny from illustrator John Cuneo’s sketchbook … the caption reads “Meanwhile, back at Romney campaign headquarters, assistants ready the family dogs for a road trip.” Cuneo does those hilarious illustrations for Esquire’s sex column, as well as work for Atlantic Monthly, Mother Jones, The New Yorker.

Happy 4th of July! For tips on keeping your dogs safe and sane during the festivities, see here.