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The first painting, Coolidge's 1894 ''Poker Game'', sold for $658,000 at a 2015 auction.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=That Dogs Playing Poker Painting Just Sold for Over $650,000|url=https://www.gq.com/story/dogs-playing-poker-painting-sold-for-650000|magazine=]}}</ref> The first painting, Coolidge's 1894 ''Poker Game'', sold for $658,000 at a 2015 auction.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=That Dogs Playing Poker Painting Just Sold for Over $650,000|url=https://www.gq.com/story/dogs-playing-poker-painting-sold-for-650000|magazine=]}}</ref>

==Description==
The majority of the paintings ascribed to the ''Dogs Playing Poker'' moniker consist of ] versions of dogs sitting around a ] playing ]. The dogs presented are usually larger breeds like ]s, ]s, ]s, and general ]s.<ref name="AC Magazine">{{cite magazine|last=Harris|first=Moira F.|title=It's a dogs' world: According to Coolidge|magazine=Antiques & Collecting Magazine|publisher=Pioneer Communications, Inc.|date=March 1997|volume=102|issue=1|pages=26–30|issn=1084-0818}}</ref> Humans do not appear in any of the paintings, and female dogs rarely appear.<ref name="AC Magazine"/><ref name="NYT">{{cite web|last=McManus|first=James|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/03/sports/othersports/play-it-close-to-the-muzzle-and-paws-on-the-table.html|title=Play It Close to the Muzzle and Paws on the Table|website=]|date=December 3, 2005|accessdate=May 23, 2024}}</ref> According to James McManus of '']'', the dogs are depicted as "upper-middle-class lawyers and businessmen", as they drink and smoke at the table.<ref name="NYT"/> The dogs sit on leather chairs in dimly lit rooms, adorned by a ceiling lamp.<ref name="AC Magazine"/> Some of the paintings tell a story.<ref name="AC Magazine"/> For example, in the painting ''A Bold Bluff'', a St. Bernard is holding a ] of deuces, and the other dogs are questioning whether to call his ].<ref name="AC Magazine"/> In the painting ''Waterloo'', the same dogs did not call the St. Bernard's bluff, and he uses both paws to grab his winnings.<ref name="AC Magazine"/> Another painting in the series, titled ''A Friend in Need'', depicts a ] slipping an ] under the table to the dog sitting next to him.<ref name="Artsy">{{cite web|last=Arn|first=Jackson|url=https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-painting-dogs-playing-poker-endured-100-years|title=Why This Painting of Dogs Playing Poker Has Endured for over 100 Years|website=]|date=June 6, 2018|accessdate=May 23, 2024}}</ref> Common themes throughout the ''Dogs Playing Poker'' series are deception, mistrust, and confrontation.<ref name="AC Magazine"/>

Not every painting within the series depicts dogs playing poker.<ref name="Artsy"/> Some paintings depict dogs performing other human activities, such as playing ] and ].<ref name="Artsy"/> In the painting ''Riding a Goat'', a blindfolded dog sits atop a goat for the amusement of a royal couple.<ref name="AC Magazine"/>


== Coolidge paintings == == Coolidge paintings ==
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]


The title of Coolidge's original 1894 painting is ''Poker Game''. The title of Coolidge's original 1894 painting is ''Poker Game''.
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On February 15, 2005, the originals of ''A Bold Bluff'' and ''Waterloo'' were auctioned as a pair to an undisclosed buyer for ]590,400.<ref>"A New York auction offers artistic treats for dog lovers", ''San Jose Mercury News'' (Feb 11, 2005).</ref> The previous top price for a Coolidge was $74,000.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/2005/02/16/news/newsmakers/poker_dogs/|publisher=]|title='Dogs Playing Poker' sell for $590K|access-date=September 11, 2006|date=February 16, 2005}}</ref> In 2015, ''Poker Game'' sold for $658,000, currently the highest price paid for a Coolidge. On February 15, 2005, the originals of ''A Bold Bluff'' and ''Waterloo'' were auctioned as a pair to an undisclosed buyer for ]590,400.<ref>"A New York auction offers artistic treats for dog lovers", ''San Jose Mercury News'' (Feb 11, 2005).</ref> The previous top price for a Coolidge was $74,000.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://money.cnn.com/2005/02/16/news/newsmakers/poker_dogs/|publisher=]|title='Dogs Playing Poker' sell for $590K|access-date=September 11, 2006|date=February 16, 2005}}</ref> In 2015, ''Poker Game'' sold for $658,000, currently the highest price paid for a Coolidge.


==In popular culture== ==In literature and the arts==
The paintings remained fairly well-known into the 21st century, with various passing references in a number of works.
{{More citations needed section|date=October 2020}}

{{trivia|section|date=July 2023}}
The animated television series '']'' has made several references to the paintings, such as in "]" (1993) when Homer is driven to screaming insanity simply by looking at the surrealness of the painting.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dogsplayingpoker.org/stuff/simpsons.html|title=Dogs Playing Poker in the Simpsons&nbsp;— DogsPlayingPoker.org|website=www.dogsplayingpoker.org}}</ref> The TV sitcom '']'' used the paintings as a plot point in one episode. Passing references or short scenes involving the paintings occur in the 1998 season four episode "Sinking Ship" of the TV series '']'', in an episode of ], In the 2005 '']'' episode "]", in the 2006 '']'' episode "]", and the episode "]", in an episode of '']'', in an episode of the TV series '']'', in the 1994 "School Daze" episode of '']'', in a 2000 episode of the TV series '']'', "]", and in the 2020 '']'' season seven episode "Passport and a Gun". In an episode of '']'', a young ]'s artistic frustration is demonstrated by his producing a ''Dogs Playing Poker'' painting. ''Dogs Playing Poker'' TV ads were aired during '']'' during the 1998 and 1999 NFL seasons.
* In the TV sitcom '']'', Sam Malone likes the paintings (in particular one of ''Dogs Playing Blackjack''), while his more sophisticated lover, Diane Chambers, hates them. Sam says that he sees something new every time he looks at it.

* The set for the TV show '']'' had a reproduction of one of the paintings in Roseanne and Dan's bedroom.
In the 1999 film '']'', Banning believes she finds a stolen ] painting in Crown's house. On expert examination it turns out to be a fake painted over a copy of ''Poker Sympathy'', a ''Dogs Playing Poker'' canvas. In the 2016 film, '']'', the paintings are discussed by the lead characters. Later, a copy of ''A Friend in Need'' is used as a cover to hide a ] painting. Glimpses, passing mentions, or short scenes involving the paintings are in the 2009 film '']'', the 2006 film '']'', and in the 2022 film '']'.
* The cover of the 1981 album, '']'' by ], features ''A Friend in Need'' as one of the three pictures being moved.

* In the 1984 play '']'', a character complains that she doesn't want to be in her motel room because there is a "Damn picture on the wall of some dogs playin' poker." In the 1984 play '']'', a character complains that she doesn't want to be in her motel room because there is a "Damn picture on the wall of some dogs playin' poker."
* In the 1991 film '']'', the Mario Brothers Mafia Family have the ''Bold Bluff'' painting framed on their wall.

* The animated television series '']'' has made several references to the paintings, such as in "]" (1993) when Homer is driven to screaming insanity simply by looking at the surrealness of the painting.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dogsplayingpoker.org/stuff/simpsons.html|title=Dogs Playing Poker in the Simpsons&nbsp;— DogsPlayingPoker.org|website=www.dogsplayingpoker.org}}</ref>
* The music video for ]'s 1993 song, "]", depicts dogs playing craps while smoking cigars and wearing sunglasses. The cover of the 1981 album, '']'' by ], features ''A Friend in Need'' as one of the three pictures being moved. The music video for ]'s 1993 song, "]", depicts dogs playing craps while smoking cigars and wearing sunglasses.

* In the 1994 "School Daze" episode of '']'' Overton brings a print of ''A Bold Bluff'' into art class and comments on the "obviousness" of the bulldog's bluff.
⚫ In 2022 the gambling company ] made a series of Poker Masterclasses called Pokerdogs. <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bodog.com/pokerdogs|title='Pokerdogs'|website=Bodog|date=30 June 2022|language=pt|access-date=2023-01-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203192253/https://www.bodog.com/pokerdogs|archive-date=2023-02-03}}</ref>
* ''Dogs Playing Poker'' TV ads were aired during '']'' during the 1998 and 1999 NFL seasons.
* The 1998 season four episode "Sinking Ship" of the TV series '']'' spoofs the 1997 film '']''. As the characters are shown fleeing the sinking ship/broadcasting studio they dump famous artworks but hold on to a ''Dogs Playing Poker'', which a character claims is a "great picture".
* In the 1999 film '']'', Banning believes she finds a stolen ] painting in Crown's house. On expert examination it turns out to be a fake painted over a copy of ''Poker Sympathy'', a ''Dogs Playing Poker'' canvas.
* In a 2000 episode of the TV series '']'', "]", ''Dogs Playing Poker'' is parodied by the characters taking the places of the dogs.
* In an episode of '']'', a young ]'s artistic frustration is demonstrated by his producing a ''DPP'' painting.
* In an episode of ], art expert and main character Neal Caffrey jokes about hanging a ''DPP'' on a wall.
* In an episode of '']'', Courage goes into a ''DPP'' painting and picks up an untouched card hand. He laughs and puts it down, which shocks the other dogs upon seeing that the hand is a ]. Courage is then kicked out of the painting by one of the dogs.
* In a '']'' cartoon a homeless artist (Gus Nickerson) lies in the street, surrounded by unsold paintings similar to ''DPP'' but depicting other animals such as giraffes, bugs, chickens, and gators. The caption recalls someone asking the artist, "Gus ... have you ever tried ''dogs'' playing poker"?
* In the 2005 '']'' episode "]", London tells Maddie that she saw a painting of dogs playing poker, and that she wants Maddie to throw her dog a poker-themed party. When Maddie tells her the dogs weren't really playing poker, London replies, "If they weren't playing poker, then how did the dalmatian win all the money?"
* In ]'s '']'' 2004 Arena league, a card "Mise" portrays dogs playing ''Magic''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://scryfall.com/card/pal04/10/mise|title=Mise}}</ref>
* In the 2006 '']'' episode "]", ] is discovered playing poker with dogs. In the episode "]", Stewie comments on the ''Dogs Playing Poker'' paintings hanging on a wall, and suggests that since Jesus is alone in one of the other paintings, the dogs should invite him to their card game.
* In the 2006 film '']'', there is a scene with some dogs from the farm playing poker while a mouse paints ''A Friend in Need'' while watching them.
* In the TV series '']'', Eric is cleaning out the garage when he finds one of the ''Dogs Playing Poker'' paintings, and shows his parents.
* In the 2008 video game '']'', there is a housing item called "Dogs Playing Cards Painting," draws heavy inspiration from ''A Friend in Need''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.wizard101central.com/House:Dogs_Playing_Cards_Painting|title=House:Dogs Playing Cards Painting|website=Wizard101 Central}}</ref>
* In the 2011 ] Old World Blues for the 2010 video game '']'', the player can spot multiple cyber dogs playing poker in the X-8 research facility if they have the "Wild Wasteland" trait.
* In the 2013 game "], contestant ] correlates their situation to ''DPP'' in a conversation with another contestant, ], who doesn't get the reference.
* In "]", a 2013 episode of the animated series '']'', five intelligent dogs play poker and smoke cigars while using their advanced robotic suits.
* In the 2016 film, '']'', the paintings are discussed by the lead characters. Later, a copy of ''A Friend in Need'' is used as a cover to hide a ] painting.
* In the 2019 animated film '']'', a painting of Charles Muntz and the dogs from the 2009 film '']'' playing poker can be seen at the antiques store.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/toy-story-4-pixar-reveals-easter-eggs-buried-films-antique-store-1219752|title='Toy Story 4': Pixar Reveals Easter Eggs Buried in the Film's Antique Store|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=20 June 2019|language=en|access-date=2020-01-20}}</ref>
* In the 2019 '']'' season one episode 5 "The Duke of Vermeer Caper", Zack mocks Princess Cleo's assistant as "His idea of art is probably a painting of dogs playing poker!".
* In the 2020 '']'' season seven episode "Passport and a Gun", Jim Sullivan rewards young Ray for his successful debut as a debt collector with a valued and framed copy of ''A Friend in Need''.
⚫ * In the 2022 '']'' made a series of Poker Masterclasses called Pokerdogs. <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bodog.com/pokerdogs|title='Pokerdogs'|website=Bodog|date=30 June 2022|language=pt|access-date=2023-01-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203192253/https://www.bodog.com/pokerdogs|archive-date=2023-02-03}}</ref>
* In the Expeditionary Force series book ''Home Front'', an advanced artificial intelligence owns one of the original paintings, and mentions that there are 11 ''Dogs Playing Poker'' paintings.


==See also== ==See also==
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==References== ==References==
{{reflist}} {{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Harris, Maria Ochoa. "It's A Dog's World, According to Coolidge", ''A Friendly Game of Poker'' (Chicago Review Press, 2003).


==External links== ==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Dogs playing poker|''Dogs Playing Poker''}} * {{Commons category-inline|Dogs playing poker|''Dogs Playing Poker''}}

{{Playing cards|state=collapsed}}


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Latest revision as of 19:43, 17 December 2024

Set of paintings by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge

Poker Game, oil on canvas, 1894

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. All eighteen paintings in the overall series feature anthropomorphized dogs, but the eleven in which dogs are seated around a card table have become well known in the United States as examples of kitsch art in home decoration.

Depictions and reenactments of the series have appeared in many films, television shows, theater productions, and other popular culture art forms. Critic Annette Ferrara has described Dogs Playing Poker as "indelibly burned into ... the American collective-schlock subconscious ... through incessant reproduction on all manner of pop ephemera".

The first painting, Coolidge's 1894 Poker Game, sold for $658,000 at a 2015 auction.

Description

The majority of the paintings ascribed to the Dogs Playing Poker moniker consist of anthropomorphized versions of dogs sitting around a poker table playing poker. The dogs presented are usually larger breeds like collies, Great Danes, St. Bernards, and general mastiffs. Humans do not appear in any of the paintings, and female dogs rarely appear. According to James McManus of The New York Times, the dogs are depicted as "upper-middle-class lawyers and businessmen", as they drink and smoke at the table. The dogs sit on leather chairs in dimly lit rooms, adorned by a ceiling lamp. Some of the paintings tell a story. For example, in the painting A Bold Bluff, a St. Bernard is holding a pair of deuces, and the other dogs are questioning whether to call his bluff. In the painting Waterloo, the same dogs did not call the St. Bernard's bluff, and he uses both paws to grab his winnings. Another painting in the series, titled A Friend in Need, depicts a bulldog slipping an ace under the table to the dog sitting next to him. Common themes throughout the Dogs Playing Poker series are deception, mistrust, and confrontation.

Not every painting within the series depicts dogs playing poker. Some paintings depict dogs performing other human activities, such as playing baseball and football. In the painting Riding a Goat, a blindfolded dog sits atop a goat for the amusement of a royal couple.

Coolidge paintings

Pinched with Four Aces (1903)
A Friend in Need (1903)
Poker Sympathy (1903)
Sitting up with a Sick Friend (c. 1905)
A Waterloo, 1906

The title of Coolidge's original 1894 painting is Poker Game.

The titles in the Brown & Bigelow series are:

  • A Bachelor's Dog – reading the mail
  • A Bold Bluff  – poker (originally titled Judge St. Bernard Stands Pat on Nothing)
  • Breach of Promise Suit – testifying in court
  • A Friend in Need (1903) – poker, cheating
  • Pinched with Four Aces (1903) – poker
  • New Year's Eve in Dogville – ballroom dancing
  • One to Tie Two to Win – baseball
  • Pinched with Four Aces – poker, illegal gambling
  • Poker Sympathy (1903) – poker
  • Post Mortem – poker, camaraderie
  • The Reunion – smoking and drinking, camaraderie
  • Riding the Goat – Masonic initiation
  • Sitting up with a Sick Friend (1905) – poker, gender relations
  • Stranger in Camp – poker, camping
  • Ten Miles to a Garage – travel, car trouble, teamwork
  • A Waterloo (1906) – poker (originally titled Judge St. Bernard Wins on a Bluff)

These were followed in 1910 by a similar painting, Looks Like Four of a Kind. Other Coolidge paintings featuring anthropomorphized dogs include Kelly Pool, which shows dogs playing kelly pool.

Some of the compositions in the series are modeled on paintings of human card-players by such artists as Caravaggio, Georges de La Tour, and Paul Cézanne.

On February 15, 2005, the originals of A Bold Bluff and Waterloo were auctioned as a pair to an undisclosed buyer for US $590,400. The previous top price for a Coolidge was $74,000. In 2015, Poker Game sold for $658,000, currently the highest price paid for a Coolidge.

In literature and the arts

The paintings remained fairly well-known into the 21st century, with various passing references in a number of works.

The animated television series The Simpsons has made several references to the paintings, such as in "Treehouse of Horror IV" (1993) when Homer is driven to screaming insanity simply by looking at the surrealness of the painting. The TV sitcom Cheers used the paintings as a plot point in one episode. Passing references or short scenes involving the paintings occur in the 1998 season four episode "Sinking Ship" of the TV series NewsRadio, in an episode of White Collar, In the 2005 Suite Life of Zack and Cody episode "Hotel Inspector", in the 2006 Family Guy episode "Saving Private Brian", and the episode "Road to Rhode Island", in an episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog, in an episode of the TV series Boy Meets World, in the 1994 "School Daze" episode of Living Single, in a 2000 episode of the TV series That '70s Show, "Hunting", and in the 2020 Ray Donovan season seven episode "Passport and a Gun". In an episode of Animaniacs, a young Pablo Picasso's artistic frustration is demonstrated by his producing a Dogs Playing Poker painting. Dogs Playing Poker TV ads were aired during ESPN Sunday Night Football during the 1998 and 1999 NFL seasons.

In the 1999 film The Thomas Crown Affair, Banning believes she finds a stolen Claude Monet painting in Crown's house. On expert examination it turns out to be a fake painted over a copy of Poker Sympathy, a Dogs Playing Poker canvas. In the 2016 film, The Accountant, the paintings are discussed by the lead characters. Later, a copy of A Friend in Need is used as a cover to hide a Jackson Pollock painting. Glimpses, passing mentions, or short scenes involving the paintings are in the 2009 film Up, the 2006 film Barnyard, and in the 2022 film Puss in Boots: The Last Wish'.

In the 1984 play The Foreigner, a character complains that she doesn't want to be in her motel room because there is a "Damn picture on the wall of some dogs playin' poker."

The cover of the 1981 album, Moving Pictures by Rush, features A Friend in Need as one of the three pictures being moved. The music video for Snoop Dogg's 1993 song, "What's My Name", depicts dogs playing craps while smoking cigars and wearing sunglasses.

In 2022 the gambling company Bodog made a series of Poker Masterclasses called Pokerdogs.

See also

References

  1. "Dogs Playing Poker". Ooo Woo – Complete Dog Resource. 2008. Archived from the original on April 11, 2017. Retrieved September 1, 2006.
  2. Ferrara, Annette (April 2008). "Lucky Dog!". Ten by Ten Magazine. Chicago: Tenfold Media. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved September 1, 2006.
  3. "That Dogs Playing Poker Painting Just Sold for Over $650,000". GQ.
  4. ^ Harris, Moira F. (March 1997). "It's a dogs' world: According to Coolidge". Antiques & Collecting Magazine. Vol. 102, no. 1. Pioneer Communications, Inc. pp. 26–30. ISSN 1084-0818.
  5. ^ McManus, James (December 3, 2005). "Play It Close to the Muzzle and Paws on the Table". The New York Times. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  6. ^ Arn, Jackson (June 6, 2018). "Why This Painting of Dogs Playing Poker Has Endured for over 100 Years". Artsy. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  7. ^ McManus, James. "Play It Close to the Muzzle and Paws on the Table", The New York Times (December 3, 2005).
  8. "A New York auction offers artistic treats for dog lovers", San Jose Mercury News (Feb 11, 2005).
  9. "'Dogs Playing Poker' sell for $590K". CNN Money. February 16, 2005. Retrieved September 11, 2006.
  10. "Dogs Playing Poker in the Simpsons — DogsPlayingPoker.org". www.dogsplayingpoker.org.
  11. "'Pokerdogs'". Bodog (in Portuguese). 30 June 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-02-03. Retrieved 2023-01-20.

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