Dogs Playing Poker Painting History

Coolidge started his dog depicting kick by painting dogs for cigar boxes in the late 1800s.

Dogs playing poker painting history. Then on a pivotal day in 1903 brown bigelow hired coolidge to head up advertising images. These paintings have become some of the most popular and recognizable paintings in american art history and certainly some of the most famous card playing artwork in the world. They each feature a group of dogs playing a game of poker. Cassius marcellus coolidge september 18 1844 january 13 1934 was an american artist mainly known for his series of paintings dogs playing poker.

Known as cash or kash in his family he often signed his work in the 19th century with the latter spelling sometimes spelling his name for comic effect as kash koolidge. B y this point coolidge had been drawing dogs for nearly three decades. The dogs playing poker series it is unknown where coolidge got his idea for his first poker dogs painting poker game 1894. Dogs playing poker isn t a one hit wonder it s not the name of the painting at all.

This iconic series by american painter cassius marcellus coolidge began with poker game in 1894 which then led to a set of 16 oil paintings commissioned for a cigar ad campaign in 1903 and a final painting completed in 1910. However the image s composition is thought to have been inspired by works of michelangelo merisi da caravaggio georges de la tour and paul cézanne who all have their own depictions of a card game scene albeit with humans as the subject rather than dogs. Dogs playing poker the series. The first iteration of this imagery an oil painting called poker game.

The story behind those dogs playing poker poker game 1894 by cassius marcellus coolidge. Almost everyone has seen the famous dogs playing poker series painted by cassius coolidge in 1903. Nearly 10 years later in the early 1900 s brown bigelow an advertising firm. Dogs playing poker by cassius marcellus coolidge refers collectively to an 1894 painting a 1903 series of sixteen oil paintings commissioned by brown bigelow to advertise cigars and a 1910 painting.