An Artistic Genius

Finally, somebody pays a huge some of money for good art.

NEW YORK (AP) _ 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 collector from New York.

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.