Card Games at the Kimbell Art Museum

Two celebrated and connected artworks, “The Cardsharps” and “The Cheat With the Ace of Clubs,” provide a tantalizing view into their artistic creation.
Card Games at the Kimbell Art Museum
"The Cheat With the Ace of Clubs," circa 1630–1634, by Georges de La Tour. Oil on canvas. Kimbell Art Museum, Forth Worth, Texas. Public Domain
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The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas is a unique institution. Its collecting categories are encyclopedic, including art from the Ancient Americas, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Europe, but its permanent collection is small, comprising around 350 objects. However, each of these works is considered a masterpiece, emblematic of a cultural highpoint from its respective era and geography. Merit for acquisitions includes aesthetic beauty, historical importance, rarity, condition, and suitability as an educational tool.

The Museum’s European holdings of Italian, French, English, Dutch, Spanish, and Flemish paintings and sculpture are especially illustrious; fortuitously, two celebrated and connected artworks, one by the Italian Caravaggio and the other by the French Georges de La Tour, are both part of the Kimbell’s collection.

Michelle Plastrik
Michelle Plastrik
Author
Michelle Plastrik is an art adviser living in New York City. She writes on a range of topics, including art history, the art market, museums, art fairs, and special exhibitions.
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