The painting 'A Bold Bluff,' by artist Cassius Marcellus Coolidge
NEW YORK — A pair of paintings from the famed series depicting dogs playing poker fetched nearly $600,000 at auction Tuesday.
The two works -- A Bold Bluff and Waterloo -- were among 16 paintings artist Cassius Marcellus Coolidge was commissioned to create for a Minnesota-based advertising company in 1903. Of the 16, nine are of dogs playing poker.
The two works that sold Tuesday for $590,400 capture moments in a poker game played by five dogs, among them a St. Bernard that ends up collecting the pot on a bluff.
The winning bid set a new auction record for Coolidge, whose previous top sale was $74,000, said Alan Fausel, director of paintings at Doyle New York, which handled Tuesday's sale.
The winning bidder was a private collector from New York.
Doyle had estimated the two paintings would bring in between $30,000 and $50,000.
The sale was part of Doyle's annual Dogs in Art auction, which coincides with the Westminster Kennel Club dog show.
I've never understood what the big deal is about those paintings. They're cute, but I can't imagine why anyone would want to spend anymore than $100.00 on them.
02-17-2005 08:30 AM
$600,000. They're alright paintings, but they're not THAT good. 
