Poker Game 1903

Cassius Marcellus Coolidge made this curious painting called ‘Poker Game’ sometime in the late 19th century. It’s got this dark, smoky green palette punctuated by the warm browns and whites of the dogs’ fur. I bet Coolidge was chuckling to himself as he worked on this, carefully rendering each dog with a distinctly human expression, and did he imagine the painting lasting this long? The one with the glasses, peering down at his cards, looks like he’s been at it all night. And that one puffing on a pipe seems like he’s trying to bluff. It is also a painting of a very particular American cultural moment, playing on archetypes of masculinity, and a peculiar, almost vaudevillian sense of humor. If you squint, you can see echoes of painters like Thomas Eakins, but, you know, with dogs playing poker. Coolidge may have been onto something. We’re still talking about it, aren’t we?