I must admit that I am getting to the point and place in my life where nothing surprises me anymore. I read headlines and at times catch some news that seems shocking to many people, but it doesn’t really phase me.
I read an article recently in a Robb Report from a few years ago that didn’t really surprise me, but it did catch my attention. I am still intrigued by the story as I think about it again while writing this article.
I know many of you look at some magazines that are mostly pictures and tell everyone that you look at the magazine for the articles. Well, I readily admit that I read the Robb Report for the pictures of the luxury real estate, airplanes, cars and yachts. While I have become a minimalist when it comes to consumption, I still enjoy some of the finer things in life.
I read an article recently in a Robb Report from a few years ago that didn’t really surprise me, but it did catch my attention. I am still intrigued by the story as I think about it again while writing this article.
I know many of you look at some magazines that are mostly pictures and tell everyone that you look at the magazine for the articles. Well, I readily admit that I read the Robb Report for the pictures of the luxury real estate, airplanes, cars and yachts. While I have become a minimalist when it comes to consumption, I still enjoy some of the finer things in life.
I do not typically read the articles about art and I usually do not read articles related to dogs. But, a painting from the Dogs Playing Poker series was on one of the pages and I had to read the article.
I do not consider Dogs Playing Poker to be in the same category of art as a Velvet Elvis, but they are in the same species of art. It seems that two original Dogs Playing Poker paintings were recently sold at auction for almost $600,000. The auction house had estimated that the pieces would sell for between $30,000-$50,000. I guess they blew that estimate. And, that may give us a lesson in supply and demand that we can use in our businesses.
The article gave some information on the painter of these fine works of art. They were painted by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge in 1903. The article goes on to say “for in addition to being a painter of anthropomorphic dogs, he was also a serial entrepreneur. He founded a bank and a newspaper, and he owned a couple of drug stores, though none of those ventures generated any substantial returns. Coolidge was also a Renaissance man, albeit of a lowbrow order: Before he began specializing in canine art, he was a cartoonist, and he wrote a comic opera about a mosquito epidemic in New Jersey. Later he invented comic foregrounds, life-size renderings that enable carnival goers to place their faces in cutouts over the bodies of musclemen, bathing beauties, and other cartoon characters. The mail-order business that he established to sell these items did prove lucrative. In 1903, Coolidge began a relationship with the St. Paul, Minn., advertising firm Brown & Bigelow that also was bountiful. For a fee of $10,000, he painted the first two of what would be a series of 16 dog-oriented artworks. With these images, Brown & Bigelow adorned calendars that its client companies gave away to their customers. Nine of the paintings featured the poker-playing dogs and the seven others depicted pooches performing a variety of human activities, from dancing to playing baseball.”
Coolidge died in 1934 and he has remained relatively anonymous since.
Why am I so fascinated with this story? Well, first of all I can relate to a serial entrepreneur. And, I know many of you can relate to that also. You probably wake up in the middle of the night with a new idea for your current business or another new business and you wonder how quickly you can get it up and running.
I also applaud anyone that defies the critics. Every business has critics. When two of Coolidge’s dog art sold for almost $600K, “the art world was stunned,” to quote a senior vice president of marketing and media for the auction company. Entrepreneurs and business owners often face criticism from those that misunderstand their passion. Fine, let them talk because you are in the process of creating some masterpieces that will sell for big bucks in the near future.
Finally, I love the long term payoff message. Coolidge was paid nicely for the paintings in 1903. The $10,000 he made would be about $1 million in today’s dollars. But, he also created something that continues to have a payoff over 100 years later. Business ownership is the same way. You may be creating something that benefits your grandchildren when you make those critical business decisions today. Those are some powerful seeds you are planting. I love the thought of creating something that will live much longer than me.
I also love those silly dogs playing poker even more now.
I do not consider Dogs Playing Poker to be in the same category of art as a Velvet Elvis, but they are in the same species of art. It seems that two original Dogs Playing Poker paintings were recently sold at auction for almost $600,000. The auction house had estimated that the pieces would sell for between $30,000-$50,000. I guess they blew that estimate. And, that may give us a lesson in supply and demand that we can use in our businesses.
The article gave some information on the painter of these fine works of art. They were painted by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge in 1903. The article goes on to say “for in addition to being a painter of anthropomorphic dogs, he was also a serial entrepreneur. He founded a bank and a newspaper, and he owned a couple of drug stores, though none of those ventures generated any substantial returns. Coolidge was also a Renaissance man, albeit of a lowbrow order: Before he began specializing in canine art, he was a cartoonist, and he wrote a comic opera about a mosquito epidemic in New Jersey. Later he invented comic foregrounds, life-size renderings that enable carnival goers to place their faces in cutouts over the bodies of musclemen, bathing beauties, and other cartoon characters. The mail-order business that he established to sell these items did prove lucrative. In 1903, Coolidge began a relationship with the St. Paul, Minn., advertising firm Brown & Bigelow that also was bountiful. For a fee of $10,000, he painted the first two of what would be a series of 16 dog-oriented artworks. With these images, Brown & Bigelow adorned calendars that its client companies gave away to their customers. Nine of the paintings featured the poker-playing dogs and the seven others depicted pooches performing a variety of human activities, from dancing to playing baseball.”
Coolidge died in 1934 and he has remained relatively anonymous since.
Why am I so fascinated with this story? Well, first of all I can relate to a serial entrepreneur. And, I know many of you can relate to that also. You probably wake up in the middle of the night with a new idea for your current business or another new business and you wonder how quickly you can get it up and running.
I also applaud anyone that defies the critics. Every business has critics. When two of Coolidge’s dog art sold for almost $600K, “the art world was stunned,” to quote a senior vice president of marketing and media for the auction company. Entrepreneurs and business owners often face criticism from those that misunderstand their passion. Fine, let them talk because you are in the process of creating some masterpieces that will sell for big bucks in the near future.
Finally, I love the long term payoff message. Coolidge was paid nicely for the paintings in 1903. The $10,000 he made would be about $1 million in today’s dollars. But, he also created something that continues to have a payoff over 100 years later. Business ownership is the same way. You may be creating something that benefits your grandchildren when you make those critical business decisions today. Those are some powerful seeds you are planting. I love the thought of creating something that will live much longer than me.
I also love those silly dogs playing poker even more now.
Tim Winders has over 25 years experience as a business owner, entrepreneur, coach and consultant. He founded Accelerate Growth NOW to provide business owners with the training, coaching and resources to double, triple and 10X their business. To learn more and to claim your FREE business growth resources, visit AccelerateGrowthNOW.com.
