Dogs Playing Poker”
Could a little-known illustrator of children’s books have assumed that in his old age his life would change dramatically thanks only to images of dogs? Unlikely. Because it doesn’t matter what to write, as painters say, it’s important how to write.
But in this particular case, that’s exactly what happened. We are talking about the Cassius Marcellus Coolidge “Dogs Playing Poker” series.
Although today the paintings in this series are considered iconic in American pop culture, at the time of the series’ release (1903) Cassius Coolidge was completely unknown. As they joked later: “this is without a doubt the most famous American artist you’ve never heard of.”
The Idea of a Series of Paintings
History is silent about where Coolidge got the idea for his very first painting of dogs playing poker. (Poker Game, 1894).
Some critics believe that it may have been inspired by the works of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio and Cezanne, who also have images of card game scenes – although they depict people, not dogs. This first painting might have remained unknown to anyone. Only almost a decade later, in 1903, the publishing house Brown & Bigelow ordered promotional materials from the 60-year-old artist to advertise tobacco products.
The artist was given full carte blanche to choose a plot and implement it. Being an illustrator of children’s books, he combines the incompatible: a cute and funny children’s picture, middle-class entertainment in the form of poker games and advertising cigars and pipes (cigars and pipes are present in all paintings in one form or another).
The idea was approved by the customer and the work began to boil. As a result, the world received the “Dogs Playing Poker” series, which includes the very first painting “The Poker Game” (1894), as well as 16 other oil paintings commissioned by Brown & Bigelow (1903), and another painting from 1910.
Implementation of the Idea
All eighteen paintings show comical, “humanized” dogs, if you want dogs “with a human face,” but only eleven of the canvases actually depict dogs playing poker. Looking at these paintings, the atmosphere of a cozy gambling game envelops you. And the audience just wants to immerse themselves in it and sit down with them at the gaming table. But it’s a pity that this is impossible in life. After all, dogs can’t play poker. But you shouldn’t get upset because the 21st century is the age of technology and you can immerse yourself in the atmosphere of poker by playing online on the bizzo casino platform.
The series was released in the form of advertising posters, calendars, postcards and cigar box labels and quickly became very popular in the United States. Today, Coolidge’s dogs with their expressive “faces”, cigars, pipes and whiskey have already become iconic and can be seen everywhere, from T-shirts to souvenirs and home textiles. Reproductions of paintings in the series can often be seen in establishments related to gambling.
I must say, critics rated the series very coolly, but people just liked it. The subjects of the paintings are really funny and instructive.
Why Are They Still Popular?
When looking at the master’s work, the question arises implicitly – what is attractive about these paintings? Why do some dogs make us smile ironically? The fact is that nothing has changed in the world since Coolidge’s time, and the paintings, even after 150 years, remained a caustic satire on the reality around us. But now in our reality it has become even easier to immerse yourself in the world of gambling, because you can easily play any games online at Bizzo Casino PL. And feel yourself in the center of the events of the game table. Just like in these paintings.
We see the same types every day – they are very similar to the people who surround us. And someone even recognizes themselves in them…
