Georges de La Tour – The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds

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Inspired by Georges de La Tour - The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds

The Cheat with the Ace of Diamonds - 1635

Musée du Louvre, Paris

De la Tour created two versions of this painting. One is in the Louvre and the other is in the Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth Texas. The only difference being the clothes and especially the cheat card. In this painting that card is an ace of diamonds and in the other it is an ace of clubs. You can probably guess the name of the Kimbell version. Like so many paintings from the 17th century, this one is loaded with a moral message from the church. Many artists wished to remind their audiences that sinners were barred from Heaven. As far as sins go this painting includes the three biggies: gambling, drunkenness and lust. The choice of the cheat cards is no accident. The diamond evokes money and commerce of the flesh, while the club symbolizes ill fortune.

De la tour was a very successful painter in the 1600’s, but quickly fell out of favor after his death. His star would not rise again until this painting appeared in a 1934 exhibition at the Louvre. It was the first time his work had been exhibited in almost 300 years. This sparked a growing craze for the artist and his work started popping up everywhere. Despite this new stardom, Pierre Landry, a Paris art dealer, spent 15 years trying to get the Louvre to buy this painting. They finally completed the acquisition in 1972. Maybe he was just asking for too much money.

To see original: bit.ly/3Cx2aiB

Johannes Vermeer – The Art of Painting

Although Vermeer began as an art salesman, he considered himself more of a painter. He only worked on commission and did not produce more than two or three paintings a year. This allowed him to provide for his wife and their eleven children. For this reason he only produced 45 works. Only 35 still exist.

Considered the most iconic of Vermeer’s existing masterpieces. The Art of the Painting has had a rough ride in the last century. In 1935 Andrew Mellon sought to purchase the painting from its Austrian owners for $1 million, but failed. In 1940 Adolf Hitler acquired the painting for considerably less. It was to be hung in his Fuhermuseum, which was never built. Instead it ended up in a bunker in an Austrian salt mine where it waited out the war. It was one of many masterpieces of art that were rescued by the US Army Monument Men division. Link to original: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_Painting

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Johannes Vermeer - The Art of Painting – 1666
Kunsthistrisches Museum, Vienna

Henri Rousseau - The Dream

Created in the same year as his death, The Dream was   Rousseau’s last painting, which was debuted at the MOMA only a few months before his untimely death.

Henri Rousseau was a self-taught artist who worked as a customs agent on the outskirts of Paris. He was considered one of the great naïve artists. In today’s art market his work would be considered “Outsider Art”. Much of his work was ridiculed, but he did have a small following. Pablo Picasso was one of his big fans and promoted his work. His characteristic paintings, in particular, those on the theme of the jungle captivated the art world with their representations of lush plant and animal life painted with incredible detail and precision. What's interesting though is that Rousseau himself never set foot outside France. His imaginary scenes were informed by visits to the Paris zoo and botanical gardens, and images from postcards, photographs, and illustrated journals. To see original: https://bit.ly/2GWMjin

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Henri Rousseau - The Dream - 1910
MOMA