Dog Bed
- Artist: Robert Gober
- Date: 1986–7
- Medium: Wicker, cotton and fabric paint
- Dimensions: object: 260 × 940 × 740 mm
- Museum: Tate Modern
- Collection record: Tate Modern website
Listen to the free audio guide
About this artwork
This is the “Dog Bed” by Robert Gober. Created in 1986‑87, it’s a small, hand‑woven wicker basket that looks like a domestic dog bed. The cushion is a square of fabric painted by Gober himself, showing bucolic scenes—ducks flying and water through trees—suggesting a gentle dreamscape. The underside of the frame bears a handwritten note that reads “For Sandy 1983‑7,” a tribute to the gallerist Paula Cooper’s dog that Gober cared for during summer visits.
Gober built this piece as part of a series of everyday objects—sinks, cribs, armchairs—that he crafted after a hand injury while woodworking. Teaching himself basketry, he incorporated the technique into his sculpture, giving it a tactile, almost found‑object feel. The hand‑painted hunting imagery on later versions adds a darker, more unsettling layer, showing Gober’s interest in how everyday objects can carry hidden narratives.
See it in person
Dog Bed is in the collection of Tate Modern on Bankside, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
