Cassius Marcellus Coolidge
Anthropomorphized animals are always popular even if sometimes it’s really weird! We love to see ourselves reflected in this way: it’s close enough to strike a chord, but removed enough to be amusing. We’re comfortably challenged because we can have a laugh about it and don't have to take it too seriously.
This painting is one of sixteen from a series called Dogs Playing Poker. It was created after Coolidge (1844–1934) signed up to work for the advertising agency Brown & Bigelow in 1903. The series was produced as part of an advertising campaign for cigars, and goods displaying them were disseminated across America by the thousands.
Described as kitsch, is it wrong to appreciate these works as art? Not at all! Very often something becomes more popular because it has universal appeal. In this case a parody of human behavior makes us laugh because we identify with it on some level. A Friend in Need is also highly accessible: there are no esoteric clues or symbols, meaning that it can reach everybody.
Given that this image began life as an advertisement, it's done rather well to have crossed the divide between that world and the world of art. While it will never hang in the Louvre, it has nonetheless managed to have a rather glamourous life!
- Sarah Mills
P.S. Click here for more depictions of dogs in art history.
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