Cassius Marcellus Coolidge
Encyclopedia
Cassius Marcellus Coolidge (November 12, 1844 – January 24, 1934), was an American visual artist, best known for his paintings in the "dogs playing poker
" genre. He was also known as Cash Coolidge (sometimes spelled Kash).
Born in Antwerp, New York
to abolitionist Quaker farmers, Coolidge was known by the nickname "Rash" to friends and family. While he had no formal training as an artist, his natural aptitude for drawing led him to create cartoons for his local newspaper when in his twenties. He is credited with creating Comic Foregrounds, life-size cutouts into which one's head was placed so as to be photographed as an amusing character, common at midway
s and carnival
s.
In 1903, Coolidge contracted with the advertising firm of Brown & Bigelow
of St. Paul, Minnesota, to create sixteen oil painting
s over several years, featuring anthropomorphized dogs engaging in various human activities. Nine of them depict dogs playing poker
, a meme
Coolidge is credited with inventing, and which inspired 1950s American illustrator Arthur Sarnoff
who is also famous for paintings of dogs playing pool, poker and craps
, along with various other later imitators. On February 15, 2005, two of these much-imitated paintings, A Bold Bluff and Waterloo, went on the auction block expecting to fetch between $30,000 and $50,000 but surprisingly sold for $590,400 at Doyle New York
. The auction set an auction record for Coolidge, whose previous top (posthumous) sale was $74,000.
The original series of 16 paintings, and their themes, are:
Additional paintings in a similar vein include:
Kelly Pool in particular (named for a specific pool game
common in Coolidge's time) led to another memetic
pop-culture art genre, that of "dogs playing pool".
Dogs Playing Poker
Dogs Playing Poker refers collectively to a series of sixteen oil paintings by C. M. Coolidge, commissioned in 1903 by Brown & Bigelow to advertise cigars...
" genre. He was also known as Cash Coolidge (sometimes spelled Kash).
Born in Antwerp, New York
Antwerp (town), New York
Antwerp is a town in Jefferson County, New York, USA. The population was 1,846 at the 2010 census. The town is named after Antwerp in Belgium, the home of one of the early investors in the town....
to abolitionist Quaker farmers, Coolidge was known by the nickname "Rash" to friends and family. While he had no formal training as an artist, his natural aptitude for drawing led him to create cartoons for his local newspaper when in his twenties. He is credited with creating Comic Foregrounds, life-size cutouts into which one's head was placed so as to be photographed as an amusing character, common at midway
Midway (fair)
A midway at a fair is the location where amusement rides, entertainment and fast food booths are concentrated....
s and carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
s.
Anthropomorphic dog paintings
Brown & Bigelow
Brown & Bigelow is a publishing company based in Saint Paul, Minnesota that produces advertising specialties, or promotional products, such as clocks, pens, cocktail spoons with corkscrew and cap-lifter, and advertising calendars...
of St. Paul, Minnesota, to create sixteen oil painting
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
s over several years, featuring anthropomorphized dogs engaging in various human activities. Nine of them depict dogs playing poker
Dogs Playing Poker
Dogs Playing Poker refers collectively to a series of sixteen oil paintings by C. M. Coolidge, commissioned in 1903 by Brown & Bigelow to advertise cigars...
, a meme
Meme
A meme is "an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena...
Coolidge is credited with inventing, and which inspired 1950s American illustrator Arthur Sarnoff
Arthur Sarnoff
Arthur Sarnoff was an American artist. Prior to working as an illustrator, Sarnoff studied at the Industrial School and the Grand Central School of Art in New York City. He was a member of the Society of Illustrators and exhibited widely including the National Academy of Design.Sarnoff was a...
who is also famous for paintings of dogs playing pool, poker and craps
Craps
Craps is a dice game in which players place wagers on the outcome of the roll, or a series of rolls, of a pair of dice. Players may wager money against each other or a bank...
, along with various other later imitators. On February 15, 2005, two of these much-imitated paintings, A Bold Bluff and Waterloo, went on the auction block expecting to fetch between $30,000 and $50,000 but surprisingly sold for $590,400 at Doyle New York
Doyle New York
Doyle New York is one of the world's largest auctioneers and appraisers of fine art, jewelry, furniture, decorations and other specialty categories. Located on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Doyle offers approximately forty auctions each year...
. The auction set an auction record for Coolidge, whose previous top (posthumous) sale was $74,000.
The original series of 16 paintings, and their themes, are:
- A Bachelor's Dog – reading the mail
- A Bold Bluff – poker
- Breach of Promise Suit – testifying in court
- A Friend in Need – poker, cheating
- His Station and Four Aces – 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 – poker
- Post Mortem – poker, camaraderie
- The Reunion – smoking and drinking, camaraderie
- Riding the Goat – Masonic initiation
- Sitting up with a Sick Friend – poker, gender relations
- Stranger in Camp – poker, camping
- Ten Miles to a Garage – travel, car trouble, teamwork
- Waterloo – poker
Additional paintings in a similar vein include:
- Kelly Pool (ca. 1903) – pool
- Looks Like Four of a Kind (1910) – poker
Kelly Pool in particular (named for a specific pool game
Kelly pool
Kelly pool is a pocket billiards game played on a standard pool table using fifteen numbered markers called peas or pills, and a standard set of sixteen pool balls...
common in Coolidge's time) led to another memetic
Memetics
Memetics is a theory of mental content based on an analogy with Darwinian evolution, originating from Richard Dawkins' 1976 book The Selfish Gene. It purports to be an approach to evolutionary models of cultural information transfer. A meme, analogous to a gene, is essentially a "unit of...
pop-culture art genre, that of "dogs playing pool".
External links
- Unofficial Cassius Coolidge biography from DogsPlayingPoker.org
- bio and photo of Coolidge from NNDB site
- Find-A-Grave profile for Cassius Marcellus Coolidge
- Article in Watertown Daily Times announcing Philadelphia, New York Museum and noting Philadelphia, New York as the true birthplace of Cassius M. Coolidge