Patrick McDonnell and Mutts Honor Magritte’s ‘Golconda’

Patrick McDonnell and Mutts Honor Magritte’s ‘Golconda’

Comic strip artist Patrick McDonnell is the creator of the warm and wonderful Mutts cartoons, now in print for 30 years and displayed in more than 700 newspapers in 20 countries. In addition to his continuing stories about Earl the dog, Mooch the cat, and all of their friends and humans, McDonnell is a true devotee of children’s toys and books, the environment, animal preservation, classic and modern art, music and album covers, and much more. 

The opening panel for the strip for Sunday, April 13, 2025, is an homage to ‘Golconda,’ the 1953 masterpiece by Belgian surrealist René Magritte. It is on display in the Menil Collection in Houston. I was fortunate to see it in 1983 during a special exhibition in the East Wind of the National Gallery in Washington DC called Five Surrealists from the Menil Collection.

‘Golconda’ was honored in 1970 on the cover of their eponymous debut album by Dreams, a powerhouse jazz fusion band during the nascence of that genre. The group featured the Brecker Brothers (Michael & Randy), Billy Cobham, John Abercrombie, Jeff Kent, Doug Lubahn, Barry Rogers, and Edward Vernon, the first real splash any of these musicians made, especially the first four.

The British group Racoon also used the artwork for the cover of their 2011 album London Rain.

McDonnell has in the past featured album covers of Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Procol Harum, Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin, Hair, Captain Beefheart, and many more. The musician he has honored most often is Frank Zappa. Read here about his tribute to Elvis Presley and that iconic photo taken by William “Red” Robertson at the Fort Homer Hesterly Armory in Tampa in 1955!

More? From 03.15.05:

More? Check this article I had to recreate from November of 2019!