Did You Know?
Dogs Playing Poker (Painting)

The title of the famous painting of dogs playing poker is "Looks Like Four of a Kind". It was painted by C. M. Coolidge (1844-1934) around 1910. According to the antique authorities Ralph and Terry Kovel,
"Between 1868 and 1872 Cassius Marcellus Coolidge worked as a druggist and sign painter, founded a bank and a newspaper, then moved from Antwerp, New York, to Rochester, where he started painting dogs in human situations. His poker-playing dogs are the most famous, but he also painted dogs on a commuter train and in a ballpark. Coolidge's first customers were cigar companies that printed copies of the paintings for giveaways. Coolidge eventually signed a contract with Brown & Bigelow to turn out hundreds of thousands of copies of his dog paintings for advertising posters, calendars, and prints."
The image of the 24" by 36" oil-on-canvas is reproduced from an advertisement in Antiques, April 1973, p. 617.
Websites
- 'Dogs Playing Poker' at Doyle New York Auctions
'Dogs in Art' site describes sale of famous paintings and gives some background on the artist.
Last updated by ann on Dec. 18, 2007
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While the Library has verified the information presented in these files in what it considers to be reliable and authoritative sources, it cannot take responsibility for nor guarantee the accuracy of the information presented.