Dogs Playing Poker
Kitsch paintings of dogs playing poker, widely reproduced in pop culture.
Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons
Dogs Playing Poker is the common name for a group of oil paintings by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge, an American artist who worked on them from 1894 to 1910. The paintings mostly show dogs with human traits playing poker, though a few feature dogs doing other human-like activities. The most famous ones are sixteen oil paintings from 1903 that Brown & Bigelow paid for as cigar advertisements. All eighteen paintings in the full set include dogs acting like people, but the nine that show dogs gathered around a card table have become famous in the U.S. as examples of kitsch art often used in home decor.
The first painting, Coolidge's 1894 *Poker Game*, sold for $658,000 at an auction in 2015.
The paintings usually show dogs with human features sitting at a poker table playing cards. The dogs are often large breeds like collies, Great Danes, St. Bernards, and mastiffs. No humans appear in any painting, and female dogs are rare. According to James McManus of *The New York Times*, the dogs look like "upper-middle-class lawyers and businessmen" as they drink and smoke. They sit on leather chairs in dim rooms lit by ceiling lamps. Some paintings tell a story. For example, in *A Bold Bluff*, a St. Bernard holds a pair of deuces while other dogs wonder if he is bluffing. In *Waterloo*, the same dogs do not call his bluff, and he uses both paws to collect his winnings. Another painting, *A Friend in Need*, shows a bulldog sliding an ace under the table to a nearby dog. Common themes across the series include deception, mistrust, and confrontation.
Not every painting in the series shows dogs playing poker. Some show dogs doing other human activities, like playing baseball, football, or dancing. In the lithograph *Riding the Goat*, a group of dogs initiates a St. Bernard into a fraternity by making him ride a goat while blindfolded.
Coolidge's original 1894 painting is titled *Poker Game*. The titles in the Brown & Bigelow series are: *A Bachelor's Dog*, *A Bold Bluff* (originally *Judge St.
- Field
- Painting
- Nationality
- American
- Known for
- Anthropomorphized dogs playing poker and other human activities
- Notable series
- 1903 Brown & Bigelow commission of sixteen oil paintings
Lore & Background
The majority of the paintings ascribed to the Dogs Playing Poker moniker consist of anthropomorphized versions of dogs sitting around a poker table playing poker. The dogs presented are usually larger breeds like collies, Great Danes, St. Bernards, and general mastiffs. Humans do not appear in any of the paintings, and female dogs rarely appear. According to James McManus of The New York Times, the dogs are depicted as 'upper-middle-class lawyers and businessmen', as they drink and smoke at the table. The dogs sit on leather chairs in dimly lit rooms, adorned by a ceiling lamp. Some of the paintings tell a story. For example, in the painting A Bold Bluff, a St. Bernard is holding a pair of deuces, and the other dogs are questioning whether to call his bluff. In the painting Waterloo, the same dogs did not call the St.
Reader's Guide
The Dogs Playing Poker series has become a touchstone of American kitsch, described by critic Annette Ferrara as 'indelibly burned into ... the American collective-schlock subconscious ... through incessant reproduction on all manner of pop ephemera.' The paintings have appeared in numerous films, television shows, theater productions, and other popular culture art forms. For example, the animated series The Simpsons made several references, and the Jim Henson TV movie Dog City was a gangster puppet film inspired by the paintings. The 1999 film The Thomas Crown Affair features a fake Monet painted over a copy of Poker Sympathy, and the 2016 film The Accountant discusses the paintings. The cover of the 1981 album Moving Pictures by Rush includes A Friend in Need as one of three pictures being moved. The music video for Snoop Dogg's 1993 song 'What's My Name' depicts dogs playing craps while smoking cigars. The paintings have also been referenced in plays, such as The Foreigner by Larry Shue. Their enduring presence in popular culture underscores their status as a widely recognized symbol of anthropomorphic humor and middle-class leisure.
Did You Know?
- On February 15, 2005, the originals of A Bold Bluff and Waterloo were auctioned as a pair for US $590,400.
- Some compositions in the series are modeled on paintings of human card-players by Caravaggio, Georges de La Tour, and Paul Cézanne.
- The 1903 series of sixteen oil paintings was commissioned by Brown & Bigelow to advertise cigars.
A Dinner Comment That Sparked a Masterpiece
The genesis of Trial by Jury, commonly referred to as Laying Down the Law, traces back to an unremarkable dinner conversation. Sir Edwin Landseer, the celebrated English painter, was dining with a judge when the topic of canine portraiture arose. The judge made an offhand remark about the French poodle owned by the Count d'Orsay, a figure known both as an amateur artist and a prominent socialite, suggesting the animal would make a capital Lord Chancellor. That single, lighthearted observation planted the seed for what would become Landseer's most recognized satirical work. The painter, already well established in the art world, took the comment and transformed it into a full oil-on-canvas composition completed in 1840. Rather than producing a straightforward animal portrait, Landseer used the poodle as a springboard to construct an entire courtroom scene populated by dogs, turning a casual dinner remark into a pointed commentary on the legal profession of his era.
A Courtroom of Canines
At the heart of the painting stands a French poodle, positioned centre stage in the role of judge, presiding over a full assembly of dogs cast in the various positions of a courtroom. Landseer's intent was explicitly satirical: he used the canine cast to lampoon the legal profession, suggesting that the pomp and ceremony of British courts could be replicated just as well by a pack of well-dressed dogs. The identity of the poodle-judge has been a matter of scholarly debate. Some viewers see in the creature a portrait of Lord Brougham, who served as Lord Chancellor from 1830 to 1834, while others argue the likeness more closely matches Lord Lyndhurst, a politician who occupied the same prestigious post on three separate occasions spanning from 1827 to 1846. Either reading reinforces the painting's purpose as a pointed, humorous critique of judicial authority in Victorian England.
Landseer's Place in the Art World
By the time he completed Trial by Jury, Sir Edwin Landseer had already secured a prominent position in the British art establishment. A member of the Royal Academy, he had built his reputation primarily through paintings and drawings of animals, a subject in which he achieved extraordinary fame. His later career produced works that became deeply embedded in British cultural memory. The Monarch of the Glen, an iconic depiction of a stag set in the Scottish Highlands, became one of the most widely reproduced paintings in the country. Beyond painting, Landseer extended his artistic reach into sculpture, creating the famous lion figures that stand at the base of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, London. These works, alongside his animal portraits and satirical compositions, cemented his status as one of the most recognizable and commercially successful artists of the nineteenth century.
From the Academy to Chatsworth
Upon its completion in 1840, Trial by Jury was exhibited at the Royal Academy that same year, giving the public their first look at Landseer's canine courtroom. The painting was acquired by William Cavendish, the 6th Duke of Devonshire, who took an active interest in its final composition. The Duke requested that Landseer add a new figure to the scene: his own Blenheim spaniel, named Bony, positioned behind the greyhound already present in the original design. This personal addition means that early copies of the painting, made before the spaniel was inserted, show the composition without Bony, creating a subtle visual distinction between the earliest reproductions and the finished original. Today, the painting hangs in the Sculpture Gallery at Chatsworth House, the Devonshire family's stately home, where it remains a beloved and frequently visited work. Its journey from a dinner-table joke to a permanent fixture in one of England's great houses underscores the painting's enduring appeal.
Gallery
Frequently Asked Questions
Who painted Dogs Playing Poker?
Cassius Marcellus Coolidge, an American commercial artist, created the series between 1894 and 1910. He gave dogs human-like expressions and postures to produce his now-iconic scenes.
Is Dogs Playing Poker a single painting or a series?
It is a collection of eighteen oil paintings rather than one work. The best-known subset is the sixteen pieces Coolidge finished in 1903, nine of which show dogs gathered around a card table.
Why did Dogs Playing Poker become so widely recognized in the U.S.?
Cigar company Brown & Bigelow commissioned the 1903 set to promote their products, which placed the images in front of millions of American households. That massive commercial exposure turned the paintings into a staple of pop culture and home décor.
Why are the paintings often labeled as kitsch?
In art criticism, kitsch refers to work considered overly sentimental or lacking in serious artistic ambition. The anthropomorphized dogs at a poker table became a textbook example of that category, frequently reproduced as novelty prints and cheap decorative items.
Do all eighteen paintings show dogs playing poker?
No — while the nine card-table images are the most recognized, the full set includes dogs engaged in other human-like activities. The poker scenes simply became the defining image of the series in popular memory.
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