The House of Cards

probably 1737

Jean Siméon Chardin

Painter, French, 1699 - 1779

Shown from about the lap up, a young person with brown hair and a peachy complexion faces our left in profile as he leans onto a table and sets folded playing cards up in a row in this vertical painting. Shown against a dark background, his long, brown hair curls by his ears and is pulled back with a navy-blue ribbon at the nape of his neck. He has a delicately sloping nose, his pink lips are closed, the cheek facing us is flushed, and he looks down at the tabletop under lowered lids. He wears a chestnut-brown, long-sleeved coat with a dark blue sash across his chest and tied around his waist. The white of his undershirt peeks out at the high neck and wrists, and the brick-red lining of the sleeve of his jacket rolls back at his right wrist. The wooden table is lined with teal-blue fabric on its surface, and three coins lie near his left hand, closer to us. In that hand he holds three nested, vertically folded playing cards. With his right hand he places the last in a line of ten cards, standing vertically but close together like dominoes, in a curving row in front of him. Scarlet-red diamonds and hearts and the edges of some black shapes are visible within the bent cards. A jack of hearts and a piece of paper or the back of another card sit in a drawer that opens toward us along the side of the table. The artist signed the work in dark brown paint in the lower right corner: “J. Chardin.”

Media Options

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 53

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Andrew W. Mellon Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 82.2 x 66 cm (32 3/8 x 26 in.)
    framed: 107.3 x 92.1 x 10.2 cm (42 1/4 x 36 1/4 x 4 in.)

  • Accession

    1937.1.90

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Catherine II, empress of Russia [1729-1796], by 1774, for the Imperial Hermitage Gallery, Saint Petersburg;[1] purchased March 1931 through (Matthiesen Gallery, Berlin; P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London; and M. Knoedler & Co., New York) by Andrew W. Mellon [1855-1937], Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; deeded 1 May 1937 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh;[2] gift 1937 to NGA.
[1] The painting first appeared in a Hermitage catalogue in 1774. See Serge Ernst, "Notes sur des tableaux français de l'Ermitage," Revue de l'Art 68, no. 365 (November 1935): 135-144, who says that the manuscript catalogue was drawn up by Ernst Milich between 1777 and 1785; Little Girl with a Shuttlecock is no. 407; The House of Cards is no. 408. Rosenberg, in Pierre Rosenberg, Chardin, 1699-1779, Exh. cat. (Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, Cleveland Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), Cleveland, 1979: 234, under no. 72, states (in reference to the same catalogue, which he dates to 1774, following Paul Lacroix, "Musée de Palais de l'Hermitage sous le règne de Catherine II," Revue Universelle des Arts 13 [1861]: 178, no. 408) that "no. 408 'Un jeune garcon faisant des maisons de cartes' refers indisputably to the painting now in Washington."
[2] The dates of the Mellon purchase and the deed to the Mellon Trust are according to Mellon records in NGA curatorial files and David Finley's notebook (donated to NGA in 1977 and now in Gallery Archives).

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1737

  • Salon, Paris, 1737, unnumbered catalogue.

1979

  • Chardin 1699-1779, Grand Palais, Paris; Cleveland Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1979, no. 73, repro.

2003

  • The Age of Watteau, Chardin, and Fragonard: Masterpieces of French Genre Painting, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Altes Museum, Berlin, 2003-2004, no. 35, repro.

2007

  • Masterpieces from the World's Museums in the Hermitage: Jean-Baptiste-Simeon Chardin's 'House of Cards' from the National Art Gallery, Washington, The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, 2007-2008, illustrated booklet.

2012

  • Taking Time: Chardin's "Boy building a House of Cards" and other paintings, Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire, 2012, no. 4, repro.

Bibliography

1773

  • Imperial Hermitage Museum [probably Ernst von Münnich, ed.] "Catalogue raisonné des tableaux qui se trouvent dans les Galeries, Sallons et Cabinets du Palais Impérial de S. Pétersbourg, commencé en 1773 et continué jusqu’en 1785.” 3 vols. Manuscript, Fund 1, Opis’ VI-A, delo 85, Hermitage Archives, Saint Petersburg,1773-1783 (vols. 1-2), 1785 (vol. 3).

1774

  • Imperial Hermitage Museum [probably Ernst von Münnich, ed.]. Catalogue des tableaux qui se trouvent dans les Cabinets du Palais Impérial à Saint-Pétersbourg. Based on the 1773 manuscript catalogue. Saint Petersburg, 1774: no. 408.

1861

  • Lacroix, Paul. "Musée du Palais de l'Ermitage sous le règne de Catherine II." Revue universelle des arts 13 (1861):178, no. 408.

1863

  • Köhne, Baron Bernhard de. Ermitage Impérial, Catalogue de la Galérie des Tableaux. Saint Petersburg, 1863: 326, no. 1515 (2nd ed. 1871:III:57, no. 1515).

1864

  • Goncourt, Edmond de, and Jules de Goncourt. "Chardin." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 1st ser., vol. 16 (February 1864): 154, no. 2.

1869

  • "Exposition de 1737," in Collection des livrets des anciennes expositions. 43 vols. Paris, 1869:4:15

1875

  • Bocher, Emmanuel. Les gravures françaises du XVIIIe siècle; ou, Catalogue raisonné des estampes, eaux-fortes, pièces en couleur, au bistre et au lavis, de 1700 à 1800. 6 vols. Paris, 1875-1882: 3:92.

1880

  • Goncourt, Edmond de, and Jules de Goncourt. L'art du dix-huitième siècle. 2 vols. Paris, 1880-1884: 1:120.

  • Ris, Le comte Clément de. "Musées du nord: Musée impérial de l'Ermitage à Saint Petersbourg." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 2nd ser., 21 (March 1880): 270.

1899

  • Dilke, Emilia F.S., Lady. "Chardin et ses oeuvres à Potsdam et à Stockholm." Gazette des Beaux-Arts. 3rd ser., vol. 22 (September 1899):181, 184

  • Dilke, Emilia F.S., Lady. French Painters of the XVIIIth Century. London, 1899:114

1903

  • Somov, Andrei. Ermitage impérial: Catalogue de la galérie des tableaux. vols. Saint Petersbourg, 1903: 21, no. 1515

1905

  • Masters in Art. 10 vols. Boston, 1905:6:42, 210

1906

  • Foster, Joshua James. French Art from Watteau to Prud'hon. 3 vols. London, 1906: II: 81

1907

  • Dayot, Armand, and Léandre Vaillat. L'oeuvre de J.-B.-S. Chardin et de J.-H. Fragonard. Paris, 1907: iv, pl. 13.

  • Dayot, Armand. "Chardin." L'Art et les artistes. 5 (June 1907): repro. 122

  • Dayot, Armand, and Jean Guiffrey. J.-B. Siméon Chardin, avec un catalogue complete de l'oeuvre du maître par Jean Guiffrey. Paris, 1907: (in catalogue) 6, 35, 91, 97.

1909

  • Pilon, Edmond. Chardin. Paris, 1909: 43, 95, 100, 104, repro. 96

  • Wrangell, Baron Nicolas. Les Chefs-d'Oeuvre de la Galérie de Tableaux de l'Hermitage Impérial à St-Pétersbourg. London, 1909: repro. 230.

1911

  • Furst, Herbert Ernest Augustus. Chardin. London, 1911: 37, 133, repro. pl. 9

1925

  • Bodkin, Thomas. "Chardin in the London and Dublin National Galleries." The Burlington Magazine 47, no. 269 (August 1925):93

  • Réau, Louis. Histoire de la peinture française au XVIIIe siècle. 2 vols. Paris, 1925:I:47.

1929

  • Réau, Louis. Catalogue de l'art français dans les musées russes. Paris, 1929:20, no. 33

1932

  • Ridder, André de. J.B.S. Chardin. Paris, 1932: 87, repro. pl. 76

1933

  • Wildenstein, Georges. Chardin. Paris, 1933: 167, no. 141, pl. 21, fig. 23.

1935

  • Ernst, Serge. "Notes sur des tableaux français de l'Ermitage." Revue de l'art ancien et moderne. vol. 68, no. 365 (November 1935): ii, 135-136, repro. 137

1936

  • Wilenski, R.H. French Painting. Boston, 1936:135, repro. pl. 59; rev.ed. 1949:125, repro. pl. 58

1941

  • "World Masterpieces Lend Supreme Distinction to National Gallery of Art." The Washington Star (16 March 1941): F6.

  • Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 38-39, no. 90.

1942

  • Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 241, repro. 45.

1945

  • Goldschmidt, Ernst. Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin. Stockholm, 1945:86-87, repro. 27 [caption incorrectly gives location as Louvre]

1949

  • Jourdain, Francis. Chardin. Paris, 1949: repro. 27

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 104, repro.

1952

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Great Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1952: 122, color repro.

1956

  • Einstein, Lewis. "Looking at French Eighteenth Century Pictures in Washington." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 6th ser., 47, no. 1048-1049 (May-June 1956): 233, repro. 231.

1957

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): 47, pl. 116.

1959

  • Cooke, Hereward Lester. French Paintings of the 16th-18th Centuries in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1959 (Booklet Number Four in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.): 30, color repro.

1963

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 316, repro.

  • Wildenstein, Georges. Chardin. Zurich, 1963: 181, no. 207, pl. 33, repro.

1965

  • Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 26.

1966

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 2:308, color repro.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture: Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 19, repro.

  • Gandolfo, Giampaolo et al. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Great Museums of the World. New York, 1968: 70-71, color repro.

1969

  • Wildenstein, Georges. Chardin: catalogue raisonné. Revised by Daniel Wildenstein; translated by Stuart Gilbert. Oxford, 1969: 189-190, no. 207, pl.33.

1975

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 64, repro.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 325, repro.

1978

  • Levitine, George. Girodet-Trioson: An Iconographical Study. New York, 1978: 324, repro. 82.

  • King, Marian. Adventures in Art: National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1978: 63, pl. 36.

1980

  • Fried, Michael. Absorption and Theatricality: Painting and Beholder in the Age of Diderot. Berkeley, 1980:46-53, repro. 53 fig. 31.

1983

  • Rosenberg, Pierre. L'opera completa di Chardin. Milan, 1983: no. 109, repro.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 323, no. 424, color repro.

1985

  • European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 85, repro.

1986

  • Conisbee, Philip. Chardin. Oxford, 1986: 148-149, pl. 136.

1990

  • Fried, Michael. Courbet's Realism. Chicago, 1990:8-9, repro.

1991

  • Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 91, 92, color repro.

1994

  • Roland Michel, Marianne. Chardin. Paris, 1994: 67, 201, 227, 233 n. 30, 235 n. 73, 240, 242, color repro. on cover.

1995

  • Edizel, Gerar. "Jean-Siméon Chardin: Seeing, Playing, Forgetting, and the Practice of Modern Imitation." Ph.D. dissertation, Cornell University, 1995:175-180, 190, fig. 49.

1998

  • Douthwaite, Julia V. "Private Life in the Public Eye: Rousseau's Autobiography and Eighteenth-Century Painting." Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century no. 358.(1998):145, repro. fig. 506.

  • Jarasse, Dominique. La peinture française au XVIIIe siècle. Paris, 1998:131-132, 137, repro. 133.

  • Gilbert, Rita. Living with Art. 5th ed. New York, 1998: 441, fig. 506.

1999

  • Zuffi, Stefano and Francesca Castria, La peinture baroque. Translated from Italian by Silvia Bonucci and Claude Sophie Mazéas. Paris, 1999: 298, color repro.

  • Berger, Robert W. Public Access to Art in Paris: A Documentary History from the Middle Ages to 1800. University Park, Penn., 1999: 172, 173, fig. 49

  • Rosenberg, Pierre, and Renaud Temperini. Chardin. Paris, 1999: 108, 109, repro., 241, nos. 110, 292.

2004

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 248-249, no. 198, color repro.

2009

  • Conisbee, Philip, et al. French Paintings of the Fifteenth through the Eighteenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 2009: no. 13, 69-74, color repro.

  • Odom, Anne, and Wendy R. Salmond, eds. Treasures into Tractors: The Selling of Russia's Cultural Heritage, 1918-1938. Washington, D.C., 2009: 99, 135 n. 62.

2012

  • Carey, Juliet. "The House of Cards." Apollo 175, no. 597 (April 2012): 42, 46, 47, color fig. 7.

2013

  • Semyonova, Natalya, and Nicolas V. Iljine, eds. Selling Russia's Treasures: The Soviet Trade in Nationalized Art 1917-1938. New York and London, 2013: 138, 139, 176, repro.

2016

  • Jaques, Susan. The Empress of Art: Catherine the Great and the Transformation of Russia. New York, 2016: 397, color fig.

  • Warner-Johnson, Tim, and Jeremy Howard, eds. Colnaghi: Past, Present and Future: An Anthology. London, 2016: 124-125, color plate 39.

Inscriptions

lower center on table frame in dark brown paint: J. Chardin
On stretcher: small embossed label, "P"

Wikidata ID

Q12859917

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