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Clip & save art notes - discussion of Georges de la Tour's The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs

Arts & Activities, Sept, 2002 by Guy Hubbard

Georges de la Tour (1593-1652). The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs, 1630-34. Oil on wood panel; 38 1/2" x 61 1/2". Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, Texas.

ABOUT THIS PAINTING

Georges de la Tour earned his living painting the kinds of pictures his clients wanted. Some of them had religious subjects, while others were of groups of people living their everyday lives. While some of his pictures--like this one--illustrate the lives of poorer people, such as gamblers, fortune tellers, soldiers, street musicians and beggars, all of them showed the kind of people who lived in his hometown of Luneville. This painting is unusual among his work, however. While most of his pictures are serious and thoughtful, this one is full of silent excitement.

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This excitement comes from just a very few things that can be seen, mainly their eyes. The faces, themselves, are expressionless. Today, we would use the word "poker-faced" to describe these expressions just because when gambling, the other players must never find out about the cards they are holding. And, although they may keep their own faces expressionless, they need to be keenly observant of the other players who may give away information about the cards they are holding by looking excited or letting their hands shake. In this picture, of course, the young man on the right is looking only at his own cards and not watching the drama that is being acted out in front of him.

Most of the people in this picture look well-fed and well-clothed, although the young victim is extremely richly dressed. His tunic and feathered hat are very handsome. De la Tour often liked to include someone in a picture wearing beautiful, expensive clothing because it gave him an opportunity to demonstrate his skill as a master painter. In this scene the seated woman is also richly dressed and is also wearing a handsome feathered hat. The reason for this is because her part in this drama is to encourage the young man to look at her and not concentrate on his cards. However, in this painting even the servant girl is well-dressed. Only the cheat is dressed fairly simply.

The drama in this painting, however, lies in the faces of the cheaters and not in their beautifully painted clothes. The seated woman has been described as "one of the most unforgettable figures in the history of art." Her face is a perfect oval and she has an almost impossibly perfect complexion--something that was rarely seen at that time. Her hair is plastered down with only a few stray hairs escaping. But it is her eyes that dominate the entire picture. She is the one who is masterminding the deception; clearly this is a team that has worked together many times before. She silently commands the glass of wine from the servant girl, who is also carefully watching the young man. The wine is being offered in an effort to further take the young man's mind off the card game.

The cheat has turned his head slightly and is quietly looking behind him to ensure that no one is watching as he draws an ace of clubs from his belt. And, once again, it is his eyes that capture our attention. Since the card game was well-known to everyone at the time, viewers would low the cheat already had a good hand. They would also know that the addition of the ace of clubs would enable the cheat to win the game and take the young man's money. This drama enabled the artist to entertain his viewers about dangers of gambling, drink and dishonest women.

During the Renaissance there was constant warfare throughout much of Europe, which led to many people to lose their jobs and homes. As a result, both refugees and soldiers spent much of their spare time gambling. And, wherever there is gambling, there are cheats--just like today! The card game being played in this picture is an early form of poker that was popular in Europe 400 years ago.

At about the same time, the idea of rich young men squandering the family fortune gambling, as in the Bible story of the prodigal son, became a popular subject. People enjoyed laughing at the foolishness of spoiled young men being outwitted by card sharps. The subject first appeared in paintings in Italy and was also the subject of poems, plays and stories. The usual characters are the same as in this picture and include the victim--usually a richly dressed, sweet-faced boy--the cheat, and one or more accomplices of the cheat. Sometimes counterfeit money was also introduced.

In painting, the origin for this kind of subject was a picture, rifled Cardsharps, by the Italian artist, Caravaggio. He painted dramatic, dark pictures where only the important parts were brightly illuminated. Both the subject matter and the style of painting eventually became popular everywhere, but it happened much more slowly than today because there was no such things as photography or television to spread information quickly.

The only way in which artists learned about new ideas was by being able to see the original pictures. But this was difficult to do because art was normally kept in owners' homes or in palaces for viewing by friends and family, unlike today where most art can be seen in public art museums.

Clip & save art notes - discussion of Georges de la Tour's The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs

Arts & Activities, Sept, 2002 by Guy Hubbard

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