A series of paintings "Dogs play poker"

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

A series of paintings "Dogs play poker" once became a real event in the art world. Interest in the unusual works of Cassius Coolidge does not subside even today. You want to look at them for a long time, noticing all the new juicy details, the emotions of the characters, winning or hopeless combinations of cards.

The unusual plot embodied by the artist inspired both his contemporaries and admirers of the art of the 21st century. Our article will tell about these unusual works.

Idea

In the early 20th century, Cassius Coolinge was commissioned by a trading company to write a series of works to be printed on a promotional calendar. Since the client's strategic product was cigars, they certainly had to be present in the paintings - this was the only condition. Otherwise, Cassius was given complete freedom.

He decided to realize his idea and depict anthropomorphic dogs dressed in frock coats and bowlers at the card table. The right atmosphere was emphasized by cigar smoke.

The author of the pictures "Dogs play poker" has created a really successful advertising product. He immediately liked the customer and found a response in the hearts of the layman. The images were used to print calendars, which were sold in huge numbers.

Pictures included in the series

The artist created sixteen paintings. But dogs only play poker on nine of them. However, the plots of the rest of the works echo the main idea of the series.

All paintings are characterized by a realistic style of depiction, emotionality, a certain amount of sarcasm.

Some stories

Pay attention to the heat of passion reigning where dogs play poker! Coolidge's paintings immerse the viewer in a peculiar world. Moreover, each of the works is special. Let's take a closer look at some of them.

In the picture "A friend in need is known" we see that a couple of bulldogs are cheating by passing cards to each other. This is bearing fruit: they have already managed to break the main bank.

"Bold Bluff" and "Waterloo" are sister paintings. At the first, a calm and self-confident St. Bernard with an unsuccessful combination of cards misleads his partners in the game. He is clearly bluffing! The viewer has no doubts about this, because his cards can be easily seen. But for the players they remain a secret. And the partners in the game believed in a bluff, this can be seen from the second picture, in which our hero breaks a huge jackpot. Of course, the virtuoso playing of St. Bernard made a splash.

But the next player is not so lucky. He collected an excellent combination, but did not have time to win: the cops raided. “Arrested with four aces” is the title of the painting. Was thereone of the players is a cheater or the police covered the underground casino, we do not know. The author did not focus on this, giving the viewer the opportunity to interpret the backstory in their own way.

What is happening in the painting "Visiting a sick friend" is clear to everyone at once. The men decided to quietly retire with cards under the pretext of visiting an ailing comrade, but their wives broke their plans. The ladies are furious and the gentlemen are in a panic. By the way, this is the only picture in the entire series that has female images.

Unprecedented popularity

A series of paintings by Cassius Coolidge has gained many connoisseurs. At the beginning of the last century, calendars with reproductions hung in almost every home, being the personification of involvement in fashion and art. They had a real boom.

Soon, dogs began to be printed on souvenirs, playing cards, postcards, notebooks. By the way, today such an accessory, dating from the beginning of the century, is a desirable acquisition for many collectors.

Modern reincarnations

Today, the Dogs Playing Poker series also has a lot of fans. Like a hundred years ago, the plot is used for advertising purposes by manufacturers of pet products, souvenirs, and printed publications. On the Web, you can find a lot of fan art, in which the heroes of popular TV shows, cartoons and even computer games sit at the card table.

Cost of paintings

Answering the question of how much the paintings "Dogs Playing Poker" cost, we can give the following example. ATIn 2005, at one of the New York auctions, an unknown buyer purchased "Bold Bluff" and "Waterloo" for a private collection for almost $600,000.

It is worth noting that a centuries-old calendar with a reproduction can cost a lot of money.