The Story of the "A Golden Retriever at the Museum"

Pittsburgh-based artist Tom Mosser never imagined that a small pleasure painting created in 2012 would change his life forever.

The painting, titled A Golden Retriever at the Museum, depicts Mosser’s golden retriever, Lucas, seated and gazing up at a massive floating tennis ball—an image both playful and strangely reverent. What began as a quiet studio experiment quickly became one of the most widely shared pieces of dog art in internet history, launching what is now known as Tom’s beloved Museum Series of dog wall art.

At the time, Mosser was developing a body of work exploring how people experience art in museums. His concept was simple but powerful: depict subjects from behind as they look at a painting, allowing the viewer to imagine the unseen face—and emotion—of the observer. “It’s about storytelling and juxtaposition,” Tom explains. “The viewer completes the narrative.”

On a cold December afternoon in 2012, needing a break from a routine commission, Mosser looked across his studio at Lucas, then just two years old. A question formed: What kind of painting would completely captivate a dog in a museum?

The answer was obvious—tennis balls.

Using a self-timer and a few dog treats, Tom captured the now-iconic reference photo and immediately began painting. Working on a single 30" x 40" canvas, he completed the piece in about a week. In March of 2013, the painting went viral after being shared by a New York gallery and visitors at the New York Art Expo.

Almost overnight, the image was everywhere.

Local and national media picked up the story. Social media exploded. Friends from around the country began texting screenshots of the painting appearing across Facebook and blogs. Tom recalls, “My cousin in Los Angeles texted me and said, ‘Dude… your painting is all over Facebook.’”

Prints of A Golden Retriever at the Museum, initially priced at $495, sold out their first limited edition run of 100 in just five weeks. What Tom thought might sell a few prints per year turned into a phenomenon embraced by dog lovers, art collectors, and golden retriever enthusiasts worldwide.

Giving back quickly became part of the story. A portion of early print sales raised over $10,000 for Pittsburgh Humane Animal Rescue, and in the years since, Tom has donated artwork to countless fundraisers. During the summer of 2020, he raised over $8,100 in a single online auction for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank—and has since helped raise more than $40,000 for charitable causes through art.

The painting also caught the attention of the tennis world. It appeared on the cover of USTA’s NetPlay Magazine, earned Mosser the 2016 Tennis Industry Initiative Award, and was exhibited at New York’s AKC Museum of the Dog in 2020.

Today, more than a decade later, the image of Lucas gazing at a tennis ball continues to resurface online. In 2025 alone, a single Facebook art page repost generated tens of thousands of likes and shares, and the painting has appeared multiple times behind Tony Kornheiser on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption—each time sparking a new wave of global print sales.

The Museum Series has since expanded to include other breeds—Labrador Retrievers, German Shepherds, Golden Doodles, French Bulldogs, Cocker Spaniels, and more—while maintaining the same whimsical reverence that defined the original.

What truly sets the series apart, however, is its personal touch. Every collector is invited to share a photo or description of their dog’s collar, which Tom hand-paints directly onto each print at no extra charge. “Once I paint the collar,” Tom says, “it stops being my dog. It becomes their dog.”

Lucas passed away peacefully in Tom’s arms in March of 2022, but his presence remains everywhere—in the studio, in homes around the world, and in the spirit of the Museum Series itself. Today, a new muse has arrived: Franco, Tom’s young golden retriever, who will soon star in an upcoming Cream Golden Retriever at the Museum.

“As artists, we’re always searching for themes that connect emotionally,” Tom reflects. “This series started with my dog Lucas—who I loved deeply—and somehow it keeps connecting people across the world. And the best part? It’s still pure joy to create.”