Collectable Poker Art

Much like the varying styles of poker play therecigars have become the most popular.
are also many styles and forms of Poker Art.After spending years painting dogs in human
With the ever-increasing popularity of poker onsituations, in 1903 an advertising firm, Brown
television, many artists have used their talents to& Bigelow commissioned a series of 16
create Poker Art to fill the demand for thingspaintings from Coolidge to depict dogs acting like
Poker. If you walk into a suburban art galleryhumans for cigar advertisements. On February 15,
today you're almost guaranteed to find a piece of2005, two of these paintings, A Bold Bluff and
Poker Art that reflects the current popularity ofWaterloo, sold for $590,400. The auction set an
the game.auction record for Coolidge, whose previous top
There are many talented artists that offer a widesale was $74,000.
variety of original and limited edition poker artIn 1980 Leroy Neiman released his painting "Stud
prints. There are poker paintings that depictPoker". Due to the popularity of poker, signed
scenes from old poker movies to abstract workscopies of this poker art now sell for more than
of art that feature modern day poker celebrities.the original brought at its release. Today Leroy
During the recent surge in pokers popularity theNeiman's popular gaming prints have included
number of artists offering poker art has explodedCasino, International Roulette, Chemin de Fer,
to the point that it is hard to decide upon whichGaming Table, Vegas Blackjack among others. In
artist's work to buy. Poker Art can range in price2004, Neiman released "International Poker" that
from fifty dollars for one of the lesser-knownwas an almost an immediate sellout.
artists, to tens of thousands of dollars for anAn up and coming artist, Darci Faulkner is widely
original Leroy Neiman. .collected and has been honored with many
Long before poker was socially acceptable enoughnational awards. Darci's series of celebrity poker
to be viewed on television, there was very littleart paintings combine digital technology and her
mention of poker in any form of art. It was rareexperience in the traditional mediums. Reflecting
to see poker referred to in movies, TV showsan influence of the genre developed by Andy
and almost never in the form of painted art. OneWarhol and Peter Max, her style, embraces a
of the exceptions was the classic "Dogs playingwhole new approach of combining the image of
Poker". This series of 16 oil paintings by C. M.several celebrities to capture a specific moment in
Coolidge, featured dogs at the poker table,time.
smoking cigars, dancing, playing baseball, andWhether your taste runs from the realistic to the
testifying in court. Of the 16 paintings, the nine ofabstract, there are now many works of poker
Coolidge's paintings in which dogs are seatedart to fit your taste and budget.
around a card table playing poker and smoking