Lauren Smith - The Cheat with Ace of Clubs

     The work I chose for my essay is a painting by George de La Tour French. The painting was created in the late 1620’s. The Name of the painting is The Cheat with Ace of Clubs. The outlines in the painting are of the four people in the painting. These outline defines these four characters. Their emphasis is on the cards in the male player’s backhand. There is outline of a martini glass, cards in player’s hands, a table, and money. The important lines are curved. I think the artist used lighting to show emphasis on the player’s cards and the faces of the people in the painting. I would say that the artist creates a psychological line with the direction of the queen’s eyes. I would say that the lines in the painting do not have an expressive quality. The painting consists of human body like shapes, circles, and squares. The objects in the painting are volumetric and organic. The representations of the people in the painting become life like by the clothing and facial expressions the artist gives each character. The queen is portrayed as proud and strong but has a look of suspicion on her face. The maid, standing up by the queen, looks timid. The male card player looks sneaky and dark. The female card player looks reserved. All the people in the painting are proportional to each other. The queen stands out the most because of the lighting that is used in regards to her. The people in the painting, I would say, are the foreground and the middle ground. The artist placed the people in the foreground and middle ground with a black background to allow the viewer to fully focus on the people in the painting and what they are doing in the painting. The space of the painting is well utilized and remembers me of looking a still life or a photo. It captures the essence of what is going on at that exact moment in time. The painting is proportional and the people in the painting reflect the size of typical human beings.

     The artist creates depth to the painting by using an all black background so that the images easily stand out to the viewer. I would say the painter used atmospheric perspective. The lighting used in the painting is depicted as natural lighting. The shadows are created and depicted by the light true to life. The light colored table between all the card players emphasizes the shadows. The shadows are depicted through reflection of color. The black background with the colorful clothing and the light colored table play off each other to articulate the contrast and emphasis the artist painted in certain areas of the canvas. The colors used in the painting are black for background. Reds, gold’s, and other warm colors for the player’s clothing, and a neutral creamy-taupe color for the table on which the player’s play on. I think the colors chosen by the artist reflect wealth among the card players and nobility in regards the queen. The artist seems to use analogous colors in his painting. The painting texture is one that is smooth and flawless. No patterns are created in the use of texture. Balance is created by how the four characters are positioned on the painting and how their eyes are looking in a circular direction. Having a dark, solid background, allows the characters, table, cards, and money balance out the black background. My eye is initially drawn to the queen because of where she is positioned in the painting and the light that is used in regards to her. The artist creates tension and other focal points by the eyes of the characters, the hands of each character, and what each character’s hands are doing in the painting. I would say though, depending on the person, the painting could be afocal. The psychological focus could be seen as the tension with the eyes of the player’s and the hand behind the male player’s back holding two cards secretly.

     The painting seems to have intensity and tension instead of repetition. The painting is 3 dimensional. The paint does not seem to affect the strokes of the artist. The painting is an oil canvas. The type of paint used seems flat but has sheen to it. The medium used by the artist seems to allow the viewer to think of it as life like. It was as though I was standing in the room of where the card game was played in the painting. The work does look the same today as when it was painted.