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The cheat with the ace of clubs3/17/2023 8" in London and finished it in New York in 1942. He viewed abstract composition not as reductive but as an almost spiritual pursuit.ĭuring his flight from the Nazis, the Dutch artist began "Composition No. Yes, Piet Mondrian was a great pioneer of 20th century art. We all know what a classic Mondrian looks like: squares of color on a black grid and a white background. Kimbell Art Museum Piet Mondrian, "Composition No. 8 with Red, Blue and Yellow," Piet Mondrian, 1939-42 It is also the only known inlaid, freestanding Wari figure - in the world.Ĥ. Cloth was well-preserved in desert burials.Īs charming as the figure is, the "Standing Dignitary" is an appropriate title: It was the first artwork to enter the Kimbell's Ancient American collection, which now has 33 items. In other words, the tunic imitates a fabric design, an art form for which the Wari empire is best known. The clearly important totem is so intricately fabricated that he sports earrings, a headdress and a tunic with what seems to be a pattern of animal figures. Assembled of jade, mother-of-pearl, lapus lazuli and silver, it's a remarkable artifact - as much a delicate piece of jewelry as it is a sculpture. To modern eyes, the "Standing Dignitary" can look like a four-inch action figure, though it was made more than a thousand years ago in Wari (an ancient civilization in Peru). The Kimbell Art Museum "Standing Dignitary," Wari, AD 600-1000 In the Kimbell galleries, "The Cheat" and "The Cardsharps" play a game of one-upmanship across the galleries.ģ. And as with the Caravaggio, our eyes follow the hands and the faces, the feathers and the hidden cards.īut by including both men and women, plus a fourth, non-playing character (the serving woman), de la Tour delicately complicates Caravaggio's con game with details of wine, sex and social standing. Once again, the viewer is more or less sitting at a gaming table watching a young, wealthy man getting fleeced. Georges de la Tour painted "The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs" approximately 40 years after "The Cardsharps" - and was clearly influenced by it. So the pairing became a wonderful topper. But - voila - the Kimbell already had an ace in the hole: a second masterwork about cardplay. It's a clever psychological study as well as a bravura display of his painting skills - designed to catch the eye of an influential patron (which it apparently did).īuying the painting in 1987 - and proving that it was, indeed, a Caravaggio - snagged the Kimbell international headlines. "The Cardsharps" by Caravaggio is one of the Italian master's earliest works. Gambling in card games: How "Texas hold 'em" can an art museum get? It's little wonder they're favorites of visitors. This pair of Old Masters features grifters at work. But cheating is what these two are all about. So, yes, we cheated when we said only five artworks. The Kimbell Art Museum Georges de la Tour, "The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs," c.
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