His Station and Four Aces by C. M. Coolidge, 1903.

Dogs Playing Poker is a series of oil paintings by C. M. Coolidge. All the paintings in the series feature anthropomorphized dogs in behaviours of playing poker, smoking cigars, dancing, playing baseball, and testifying in court. Of the 16 paintings, the nine of Coolidge's paintings in which dogs are seated around a card table playing poker and smoking cigars have become popular, being described as "indelibly burned into the [public] subconscious".^[1] His Station and 4 Aces by C. M. Coolidge. ... His Station and 4 Aces by C. M. Coolidge. ... 1903 (MCMIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Friday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ... Mona Lisa, Oil on wood panel painting by Leonardo da Vinci La donna velata, painted in 1516, Oil on wood panel painting by Raphael Oil painting is done on surfaces with pigments that are ground and mixed into a medium of oil — especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. ... His Station and Four Aces by C. M. Coolidge, 1903. ... An anthropomorphic character Anthropomorphism, also called personification anthropomorphism, is the attribution of human characteristics and qualities to nonhuman beings, inanimate objects, or natural or supernatural phenomena. ... A game of Texas holdem, the most popular form of poker, in progress. ... Four cigars of different brands (from top: H. Upmann, Montecristo, Macanudo, Romeo y Julieta) An airtight cigar storage tube and a double guillotine-style cutter A cigar is a tightly rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco, one end of which is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn... A game of Texas holdem, the most popular form of poker, in progress. ... Four cigars of different brands (from top: H. Upmann, Montecristo, Macanudo, Romeo y Julieta) An airtight cigar storage tube and a double guillotine-style cutter A cigar is a tightly rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco, one end of which is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn...

Already keen on painting dogs in human situations, in 1903 an advertising firm, Brown & Bigelow commissioned a series of 16 paintings from Coolidge to depict dogs acting like humans for cigar advertisements.^[2]
On February 15, 2005, two of the paintings, A Bold Bluff and Waterloo, sold for US $590,400. ^[3] The auction set an auction record for Coolidge, whose previous top sale was $74,000. The titles in the series are: Brown & Bigelow of St. ... Trinomial name Canis lupus familiaris The dog Canis lupus is a type of canine, a mammal in the order Carnivora. ... February 15 is the 46th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The United States dollar, or American dollar, is the official currency of the United States. ...

• A Bachelor's Dog
• A Bold Bluff
• Breach of Promise Suit
• A Friend in Need
• His Station and Four Aces
• New Year's Eve in Dog Ville
• One to Tie Two to Win
• Pinched with Four Aces
• Poker Sympathy
• Post Mortem
• The Reunion
• Riding the Goat
• Sitting up with a Sick Friend
• Stranger in Camp
• Ten Miles to a Garage
• Waterloo: Two

Tobias Schuster er MEGA NICE

Analysis

The series has an appeal that has made it part of American pop culture. They show various stages of what might be the same poker game; for example, in A Bold Bluff, a Saint Bernard's hand can be seen by the viewer but not by the other dogs; in Waterloo, the Saint Bernard takes his winnings. Looks Like Four of a Kind is a well-known painting that was a follow-on to the original series. It’s after 1:00 am according to the grandfather clock included in some of the paintings. Popular culture, or pop culture, (literally: the culture of the people) consists of widespread cultural elements in any given society. ... Wikimedia Commons has media related to: St. ...

"Its main appeal is how funny it is. Poker’s a fairly cerebral activity, so the idea of dogs playing is patently absurd. And contemporary artists love its kitsch, which has a lot to do with the fact that it’s so God damn bad as a painting."^[4]

"Anthropomorphic animals = immediate humor." ^[5]

"A wry and whimsical satire on middle–class, human male entertainment." ^[1]

"corny but cool"^[6]

In popular culture

• The TV show Roseanne had a reproduction of the painting in the family's living room.
• The Animated series The Simpsons has made several references to the paintings. ^[7]
• Television advertisements were used for ESPN Sunday Night Football during the 1998 and 1999 National Football League seasons by using animatronic dogs. The Bulldog's voiceover was played by Gilbert Gottfried. 1998 featured the dogs themselves while the 1999 season included Herman Moore, Terrell Davis, Joe Theismann, and Jason Sehorn in the commercials.
• The videogame Psychonauts by Tim Schafer has an entire level dedicated to the painting, named Black Velvetopia, a reference to the kitsch appeal of the painting by Black Velvet artists. Coincidentally, the level right before Black Velvetopia, is called Waterloo World.
• In the 1993 computer game Day of the Tentacle, a stylized painting of dogs playing poker can be seen in the bedroom of one of the game's characters.
• In the Family Guy episode "Saving Private Brian", Mayor West is seen playing poker with dogs in what is presumably the school's basement, after Chris falls through the floor.
• In Larry Shue's play The Foreigner, a character staying in a lodge remarks she does not want to be in her room because "the damned painting [in there] is Dogs Playing Poker."
• In the remake of The Thomas Crown Affair, at one point, Banning finds what appears to be the stolen Monet in Crown's house and brings it back to her office. However, it turns out to be fake, as discovered by an expert examining the painting, and realizing that it was painted on top of another painting of Dogs Playing Poker.
• In the tv series That 70's show, in an episode (Hunting), the painting "Dogs Playing Poker" is parodied with the show's characters taking the place of the dogs.
• In 2000 Roger Waters and his band members played poker on stage halfway during the song Dogs (song) on In the Flesh Live.
• In an episode of Animaniacs where a young Pablo Picasso's frustration as an artist is demonstrated by his producing the "Dogs Playing Poker" painting.

Roseanne was an American sitcom which aired on ABC from 1988 to 1997, starring stand-up comedian Roseanne. ... Simpsons redirects here. ... ESPN Sunday Night Football is a TV program showing National Football League games on Sunday evenings. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... For other uses of National Football League, see National Football League (disambiguation). ... Trinomial name Canis lupus familiaris The dog is a mammal in the order Carnivora. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... A voice-over is a narration that is played on top of a video segment, usually with the audio for that segment muted or lowered. ... Gilbert Gottfried (born February 28, 1955 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American stand-up comedian and actor noted for his grating voice, his Brooklyn accent and his tendency to shout. ... Herman Moore (born October 20, 1969 in Danville, Virginia) is an former American NFL wide receiver. ... Terrell Lamar Davis (born October 28, 1972 in San Diego, California) is a former Denver Broncos running back from 1995 to 2001. ... Joseph Robert Theismann (born September 9, 1949 in New Brunswick, New Jersey,) is a former American football quarterback and current television football announcer for ESPN. He was born to an Austrian father, Joseph John Theismann and a Hungarian mother, Olga Tobias and was raised in South River, New Jersey. ... Jason Heath Sehorn (born April 15, 1971 in Sacramento, California) is a former professional football player in the National Football League. ... Psychonauts is a platform game developed by Double Fine Productions, published by Majesco, and released on April 19, 2005, for the Microsoft Xbox, the Sony PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows. ... Tim Schafer (born July 26, 1967) is an American computer game designer. ... Maniac Mansion: Day of the Tentacle (DoTT) is a graphical adventure game, originally released in 1993, and published by LucasArts. ... Family Guy is an American animated television series about a nuclear family in the suburb of Quahog (IPA or ), Rhode Island. ... Larry Shue (23 July 1946 - 23 September 1985) was an American playwright and actor, best known for writing two often-performed farces, The Nerd and The Foreigner. ... The Foreigner is a comedy by playwright and actor Larry Shue. ... The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1999 English language film, a remake of the 1968 film of the same name. ... George Roger Waters (born September 6, 1943) is an English rock musician; singer, guitarist, bassist, songwriter, and composer. ... Dogs is a song by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd. ... Returning from a 12 year long hiatus from the road, the In The Flesh tours were a showcase of Roger Waters best known work from his days with Pink Floyd to his recently released solo album Amused to Death. ... Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs was a popular American animated television series, distributed by Warner Bros. ... Young Pablo Picasso Pablo Picasso (October 25, 1881 – April 8, 1973) was a Spanish painter and sculptor. ...

References

• San Jose Mercury News, Feb 11, 2005; "A New York auction offers artistic treats for dog lovers"

1. ^ ^{a b} Annette Ferrara: Lucky Dog!. Published by Ten by Ten magazine online, accessed 2006-09-01
2. ^ OooWoo.com: Dogs Playing Poker. Accessed 2006-09-01
3. ^ CNN Money.com: 'Dogs Playing Poker' sell for $590K. Accessed on 2006-09-01
4. ^ Jim McManus, cited in Annette Ferrara: Lucky Dog!. Published by Ten by Ten magazine online, accessed 2006-09-01
5. ^ Gaming Art Gallery: A Friend in Need. Accessed on 2006-09-01
6. ^ [1]
7. ^ DogsPlayingPoker.org: The Simpsons. Accessed on 2006-09-01

Jim McManus is a British actor, who has starred in various television, stage and film roles including Tipping the Velvet and Lawless Heart. ...

External links

• http://www.dogsplayingpoker.org/ - A website dedicated to this cultural theme
• Short piece on the painting
• A collection of Coolidge paintings