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| Born in 1844, Cassius Marcellus Coolidge was a druggist, newspaper publisher, sign painter, and founder of a bank. After a trip to Europe in 1873, he began painting his famous dog paintings, where large dogs were seen doing human activities, such as playing (and cheating at) poker. These anthropomorphic images are the most famous pieces of gaming art. Coolidge's first success as a painter came when he sold his works to cigar companies, who used them as promotional items. His greatest success came when publishers Brown and Bigelow printed hundreds of thousands of copies of his works as calendars, prints, and advertising posters. Coolidge married at an age when most people were considering retirement, fathering his only daughter at the age of 66. He died in 1934 at age 89. |  | |
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