The Card Players

Paul Cézanne

Cézanne became interested in depicting labourers playing cards in the autumn of 1890. During the 1890s he completed five paintings of this subject. Here, the composition is refined down to two men seated across a table in undefined surroundings. The players face each other but are immersed in the ritual of the game.

Farm workers from the estate of Cézanne’s father posed for the two figures. They are the human equivalents of the painter’s views of Mount Saint Victoire: timeless, monumental and resolutely Provençal.

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This painting is on display in the LVMH Great Room, Level 3 of The Courtauld Gallery. You can view this room from the comforts of your home through our virtual tour.

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Two men sit across from each other at a table covered with a brown tablecloth, playing cards. Both men wear overcoats and hats, and the man on the left smokes a pipe. They sit inside a wooden building. i Paul Cézanne (1839-1906) The Card Players, around 1892-96, The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

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