Most people can agree that when they think of dogs they usually associate a dog with a mans best friend. But the funny thing about this painting is that instead of the dogs being expressed in this way, the dogs are actually personified as a man rather than just his best friend.  This is picture truly shows how men would act in their free time in a very old fashion manner. Between the cigars, alcohol, and poker, this is how most men would like to spend their time when they are around their friends.

This picture is also very in touch with society as far as even todays standards go.  As you look around the table you notice how each dog has grouping themselves with the same or a similar bread to themselves.  This is the case almost everywhere today because a number of people only like to be and associate themselves with their own type and they seclude themselves from other races and people who are different from them. This is especially true if one would go back and check the date of when this painting was painted, people where not exactly “open” to new things and ways of life during this time period.  

After scanning the picture and looking at all of the dogs, it is easy to see which dogs are nervous and which ones are not.  The things that give this away are the expressions on the dogs faces.  The nerves may be due to a number of things whether that is how much that bet on that game or how well they have been doing over the course of all the poker matches combined.  One could say that some of their “poker faces” are not exactly up to par with what they should be, but one shouldn’t expect too much considering they are actually dog faces.  

Based on this picture it is easy to tell what type of dog really dominates the picture. On one side of the table sits all of the big dogs and the other side just has two little bulldogs. It is pretty obvious that the bulldogs would be considered the minority at least within this particular picture.  Most people would think that the minority would be the ones who are getting ganged up on, but that is not the case here.  The bulldogs are cheating because they are passing cards back and fourth to give themselves an edge over the other competitors.  As one might notice the other dogs have no clue this is going on but it is in plain sight for the viewer of the painting to both see and observe.

Judging by the clock on the back right hand side of the painting, viewers can tell that it is most likely a late night with they boys because the clock reads about 1:10. They probably all wanted to relax and have some fun with their “dog friends” after a long day at work. Also the only real source of light cascades down and seems to brighten up the entire room which seems to be unrealistic because one lamp that is facing down shouldn’t be able to spread  that much light throughout a room, but then again the picture does have dogs playing poker and smoking cigars at a table so there is no reason that the artist had any intention to push this painting to be realistic. 

The two big dogs at the opposite side of the table and in front of the painting seem to be trying to look at their neighbor’s cards. This is probably due to them having a lousy hand, or they might just not have been cutting it most of the night.  The view can also get an idea of what kind of person each of the characters are based on what they are drinking or smoking. For example, some dogs are drinking liquor versus beer and some dogs have a pipe whereas the others might be enjoying themselves a cigar.  Often times people with more money will have a liquor drink versus a beer so that is how one might interpret what kind of person they are and what their financial status might be.

The particular game of poker that is captured in this painting is obviously an important one. There seems to be a lot of winnings in the middle of the table and this hand that they drew might cause one of the players to win big.  As you can notice they bulldogs seem to have the most amount of money won due to them probably cheating throughout the night. It is easy to tell why most of the participants of the game have worried looks on their face with the exception of a few.  

If the viewer was to look around the room that is in the painting, then most people would agree that nothing in the background really stands out. For example, the painting behind the big dogs in the back seems to blend in with the rest of the wall and the whole painting seems to be a bit neutral. The part that has the most detail is the poker table and the people sitting around it because that is what the artist wanted to views to be seeing and noticing the most. 

They dog on the left side of the table seems to have a bit of a smirk on his face. This is probably fueled by a number of reason, one might be that he is the dealer and he is cheating just like the bulldogs. Or maybe he just has a really good hand and he thinks he is going to win big on this particular match, as far as this painting goes, it is easy to believe that anything is possible.

As you look at all of the different dogs and decide what kind of personalities they have based on how they are acting in the picture and the things that the viewer might notice them doing whether it is low-key or if it is very easy to see. You can almost find and see what person you are in the painting because they all are different in their own way and people can easily find similarities in themselves or someone that they might know.  

This painting is called A Friend In Need, and it is from a collection of many paintings called Dogs Playing Poker. The artist who made all of these is named Cassius Marcellus and the painting were all illustrated in the early 1900s. Once a viewer knows the date that this painting was made, then they can probably easy interpret what is really going on as far as social norms and what he meant by including them in the painting.
