Have you seen the pictures recently of the Coolidge Dogs (poker dogs)? Those are the dogs seen playing poker, shooting pool, watching a baseball game played by dogs, etc. These images, which began as a series of oil paintings by Cassius "Cash" Coolidge (1844-1934) in the 1920s, have been around for eighty years, and have appeared on calendars and even on TV as a commercial during the Super Bowl a few years back. Although the artist who created these whimsical paintings is long dead, Vincent DeMarco, a retired engineer living in Las Vegas, is trying to give them new life.
DeMarco, who moved to Las Vegas from the San Diego (California) area in 2001, says that like many people, he was familiar with the Coolidge Dogs in the 1950s, whcn they appeared in the media. "When I was in high school in Massachusetts, on Sundays I would buy the New York Times. From time to time, comments and pictures of these dogs playing poker were in there. They also appeared on calendars. Basically, they are images that you'd tend to remember."
It wasn't until 1971, through a chance meeting with Marcella (Marci) Coolidge, the artist's daughter, that he began to think of distributing the images, and making them popular again. "I was introduced to Leon Thorner, who invited my wife and I to lunch at his house in La Mesa (California) to show us his macadamia nut trees. He introduced us to Marcella Coolidge and we thought she was his wife. I was familiar with the poker dogs through my childhood, and when I asked her if she was related to Cassius Coolidge, she said that she was." She then produced a portfolio, which she said she had had since the 1930s. After viewing the portfolio, DeMarco asked her to sell him the rights; she refused. The casual relationship between the two continued until 1995, when DeMarco asked her again. This time, she assented, and DeMarco Productions was born.
According to DeMarco, Cassius Coolidge created at least 31 oil paintings of the dogs in the 1920s. Nine of these paintings showed the dogs playing poker. The most famous of his works, "A Friend in Need," is often called Dogs Playing Poker. It shows a small dog giving another small dog an ace in a poker game against larger dogs. In 2005, two of Coolidge's original paintings sold for $590,400 at a New York auction to an anonymous buyer. The entire portfolio of prints, poker dog coasters, and puzzles, is available on DeMarco's website, coolidgedogsexpress.com.
tweet this!