The painting “Dogs Playing Poker” is a painting by American painter Edward Hopper. It is currently in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
The painting was sold at auction in January 2018 for $182.4 million, making it the most expensive painting ever sold.
The painting is composed of twelve oil sketches on Canvas, each measuring 18 by 24 inches (46.4 by 61 cm).
Hopper created the work between 1939 and 1954, and it remained unfinished at his death. The sketches were assembled into the finished work over a period of several months in 1954.
The painting depicts four men playing cards at a table in a cluttered room. Two other men are visible in the background, one with his back turned to the card players and one smoking a cigar.
The subjects are rendered with a loose, sketchy technique, giving the appearance of half-finished drawings.
Hopper was not initially interested in painting poker scenes, but changed his mind after seeing a photograph of a poker game by Arnold Rothstein. He described the painting as an “abstract version” of a poker game, focusing on the players’ hands and expressions rather than on specific details such as cards or table layout.
The painting has been described as both sensual and somber, depicting loneliness and boredom amid mundanity. It has been compared to works by American painter Edward Hopper such as “Nighthawks”, which also features male characters playing card games in a cramped setting.
Hopper himself described the work as “an abstract version” of a poker game and said that he focused on the players’ hands and expressions rather than on specific details such as cards or table layout.
