And start collecting fine art.

Poker Dog Paintings Sell for $590K
February 15, 2005 — 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 that 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 collectors from Michigan/Louisianna.

Doyle had estimated that 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.

One of the collectors said in an exclusive interview "Next to my 15 Ferraris this is the pertyist thang I ever saw"

The other was in Amsterdam doing "Plant Research" and unavailable for comment.

(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) ___