Last week, one of the most famous poker-related paintings, Cassius Marcellus Coolidge’s ”Poker Game” was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in New York.
Coolidge (1844 – 1934) was an American painter who became famous for his series of paintings depicting dogs playing poker. He left the family farm in 1860 and worked as a pharmacist, sign painter and caricaturist.
He started painting dogs in human situations in his 20s and thats how the Dogs Playing Poker painting series came about.
The Sotheby’s auction took place this November and ”Poker Game” was sold to a collector for $650,000. Two other pieces in the series, ”Bold Bluff” and ”Waterloo” were auctioned off in 2005 for a total of $590,400.
