The Card Players

As a later work, The Card Players is more indicative of Cézanne’s earlier impressionism. It does have the thick lines and bright colors of the impressionist school, but also the fragmented quality that Cézanne used to separate the shapes and forms within his paintings. Cézanne’s painted it during his mature period while in Provence, where he established his family residence and completed many of his later paintings. It was at this time that Cézanne employed his wife, son, local peasants, children, and art dealers as his models and subjects. One can almost imagine Cézanne sitting across from these two players in a local tavern, becoming inspired by them, and returning to his estate to paint them.