C.M. Coolidge

Few artists hold more truck in American Culture, yet remain more anonymous than C. M. Coolidge. He’s most famous for the progenesis of the “Dogs Playing Poker” genre of art, which has grown into a memetic kitsch genre – often imitated and reappropriated – and arguably the basis of much of anthropomorphic dog and even animal characterization. Coolidge’s legacy coupled the iconography of dogs, and their inherent connectedness to man, with that of some of man’s most sordid and secretive, yet more pleasurable activities. Subjects of Coolidge’s work often include card playing, and tend to illuminate subtle tension present in such interaction.

By using dogs, the artist is able to capture, with some removal of prejudice, these uncomfortable, though undeniably palpable situations. Tension exists in human interaction. Dogs doing these human activities somehow make it digestible.

C. M. Coolidge is also accredited with starting carnival cutout illustrations, allowing carnival goers to insert their face into a context with some cartoonish character; a standard still seen in amusement parks and carnivals. An attendee is now part of this larger thing. A famous comic character. Or photographed indelibly as part of an iconic amusement park, or other landmark.

Thematically, both of these studies display a keen insight into possible amalgamation and hybridization of things, which had remained largely divorced and unrelated. Coolidge’s body of work is distinctly American, and continues to quietly influence American Culture.