Card Players at a Table

Pablo Picasso

1914 · Graphite on paper · Modern and Contemporary Art

In his studio at Avignon in the summer of 1914, Picasso explored a new path, contrasting, in a single work, a Cubist treatment of objects and figures with a simple, at times naive, naturalism. Although Picasso had been thinking about Cézanne episodically since he first saw his works at Ambroise Vollard's gallery in 1901, being in Provence—Cézanne country—triggered a new set of associations. In the cafés of Avignon, he saw men dressed identically to those in Cézanne's late paintings, and he made a number of works inspired by the cardplayers of the Master of Aix (see MMA 61.101.1). The subject conveniently provided a pretext for Picasso to juxtapose two figures in contrasting styles, as he does here in such an amusing manner.

Artist

Pablo Picasso

Date

1914

Medium

Graphite on paper

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Purchase, The Morse G. Dial Foundation Gift, in memory of Ethelwyn G. Dial and Morse G. Dial, 1984