Dog Days of Art

I can’t help it, I have a lot of animal art in my house. A few examples: the hedgehog with flowers on her back in the bathroom, my llama drinking wine in the kitchen, another llama wearing shades upstairs, and a bright funky ostrich in my daughter’s room. And I want more.


There is a big blank wall by our staircase for which I’ve been searching for a painting and the other day I found one that was the right size AND that I loved. It was three beautiful horses. I have three daughters! It was meant to be! But at some point I realize I have to reign it in (A little horse humor for you this hump day! And speaking of hump day- wouldn’t a camel painting be so fun in my foyer?!) so I passed on the horse painting. I’m still mourning it, obviously.


We are also watching my sister’s dog while she is out of town. If you follow me on Instagram, you may recognize him:

You will probably see this again. I post it every chance I get.

Isn’t it fantastic? Naturally, it got me thinking about maybe the most famous piece of animal art in the world:

Coolidge sold his much of his Poker Dog art to cigar companies, because poker and cigars go paw in paw.

Cassius Marcellus Coolidge (he signed his art “Kash Koolidge” which already indicates he wasn’t an uptight guy) was born in upstate New York in 1844. In A Friend in Need, some art experts liken the bulldog's passing of the ace in his outstretched paw to Michaelangelo's The Creation, in which God and Adam are reaching toward one another. Personally, I think that's a bit of a stretch, if you will.

In addition to creating dogs in human situations, he is also credited for creating those big poster-type things we see at tourist attractions. The ones with the holes where you stick your face and you can be an astronaut or firefighter even a traditional Thai dancer!

Thanks to Coolidge, I have wonderful memories like these commemorating all my vacations!

Most of Coolidge's dog paintings were done on commission for the advertising firm, Brown and Bigelow for calendars. Recently, his painting Poker Game sold for $658,000. Now, that’s some cold hard Kash!