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| TR Kromer (#24127979)
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Rudolph
 | C.M. Coolidge & Carnival "cut-outs"
C.M. Coolidge, according to the Santa Cruz Public Libraries web site: "According to the antique authorities Ralph and Terry Kovel:
Between 1868 and 1872 Cassius Marcellus Coolidge worked as a druggist and sign painter, founded a bank and a newspaper, then moved from Antwerp, New York, to Rochester, where he started painting dogs in human situations. His poker-playing dogs are the most famous, but he also painted dogs on a commuter train and in a ballpark. Coolidge's first customers were cigar companies that printed copies of the paintings for giveaways. Coolidge eventually signed a contract with Brown & Bigelow to turn out hundreds of thousands of copies of his dog paintings for advertising posters, calendars, and prints."
It just goes to show that you can teach an old man new tricks. But forget the man and let's look at the work for a minute. Notice how the fantasy scenarios and absurd juxtapositions that happen in the paintings predate the Surrealists by nearly 50 years. And even though Coolidge's use of light is reminscent of Rembrant and the other great Dutch masters, he combines it with a contemporary social commentary that is a good century ahead of the activist postmodern art of the '80s.
But perhaps most illuminating in perceiving Coolidge's genius is his seminal influence on Pop Art. Here is an excerpt from "Sohodo: Dogs of the 60s Artscene and the Painters who Fed Them," by Tippie Beagle. Beagle notes:
"It was common knowledge among the dogs who regularly frequented the Dumpster Salons of the era that Andy Warhol was heavily influenced by the work of C. M. Coolidge, perhaps to a far greater degree than he was willing to admit. Warhol was the constant companion of a black dachshund named 'Archie' who regularly attended the Salons. Archie would note that Warhol was inspired by Coolidge's conceptual move into the popular culture, blurring the lines between art, advertising and mass marketing. And Warhol always regreted that Coolidge discovered the throw-rug tapestry before he did."
Added by Rudolph on Apr 01, 2013 9:59 AM | | | Rudolph
| Cassius Marcellus Coolidge
According to the advertising firm Brown & Bigelow, then primarily a producer of advertising calendars, Coolidge began his relationship with the firm in 1903. From the mid-1900s to the mid-1910s, Coolidge created sixteen oil paintings for them, all of which featured anthropomorphic dogs, including nine scenes of dogs playing poker,[4] a meme Coolidge is credited with inventing.
The original series of 16 paintings, and their themes, are:
• A Bachelor's Dog – reading the mail
• A Bold Bluff – poker
• Breach of Promise Suit – testifying in court
• A Friend in Need – poker, cheating
• His Station and Four Aces – poker
• New Year's Eve in Dogville – ballroom dancing
• One to Tie Two to Win – baseball
• Pinched with Four Aces – poker, illegal gambling
• Poker Sympathy – poker
• Post Mortem – poker, camaraderie
• The Reunion – smoking and drinking, camaraderie
• Riding the Goat – Masonic initiation
• Sitting up with a Sick Friend – poker, gender relations
• Stranger in Camp – poker, camping
• Ten Miles to a Garage – travel, car trouble, teamwork
• Waterloo – poker
Added by Rudolph on Jan 02, 2013 12:06 PM | | |
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