''The Card Sharp with the Ace of Diamonds'' is an oil-on-canvas painting produced ca.1636–1638 by the French artist

Georges de La Tour Georges de La Tour (13 March 1593 – 30 January 1652) was a French Baroque painter, who spent most of his working life in the Duchy of Lorraine, which was temporarily absorbed into France between 1641 and 1648. He painted mostly religious chia ...

. It is now in the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

, which bought it in 1972. Though its commissioner is unknown, it is signed ''Georgius De La Tour fecit'' under the

card sharp A card sharp (also cardsharp, card shark or cardshark, sometimes hyphenated) is a person who uses skill and/or deception to win at poker or other card games. "Sharp" and "shark" spellings have varied over time and by region. The label is no ...

's elbow and in the shadow of the tablecloth. The work depicts a card game in which the well-to-do young man on the right is being fleeced of his money by the other players, who both appear to be complicit in the scheme. The card sharp on the left is actually in the process of retrieving the ace of diamonds from behind his back. Georges de La Tour - The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs - Google Art Project

Georges de La Tour - The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs - Google Art Project

The painting is one of two versions of the composition by de la Tour. The other version, known as ''The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs'', with "abundant variations in details of color, clothing, and accessories" was purchased in 1981 by the Kimbell Art Foundation and is in the

Kimbell Art Museum The Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, hosts an art collection as well as traveling art exhibitions, educational programs and an extensive research library. Its initial artwork came from the private collection of Kay and Velma Kimbell, w ...

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. Accord ...

References

Bibliography (in French)

* Hermann Voss, « Tableaux à éclairage diurne de G. de La Tour », Formes, Paris, Éditions des Quatre Chemins, no XVI, juin 1931, p. 98-99 (lire en ligne rchive * Pierre Rosenberg et François Macé de l'Épinay, Georges de La Tour : Vie et œuvre, Fribourg, Office du livre, 1973, p. 126-127 (« Catalogue raisonné, no 29 ») * Jacques Thuillier, Tout l'œuvre peint de Georges de La Tour, Paris, Flammarion, coll. « Les Classiques de l'Art », 1973 (réimpr. 1985), 104 p. (), p. 91 (« Catalogue des œuvres, no 30 ») * Pierre Rosenberg et Marina Mojana, Georges de La Tour : catalogue complet des peintures, Paris, Bordas, coll. « Fleurons de l'Art », 1992 () * Jean-Pierre Cuzin et Pierre Rosenberg (préf. Jacques Thuillier), Georges de La Tour : Paris, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, 3 octobre 1997-26 janvier 1998, Paris, Réunion des Musées nationaux, 1997, 320 p. () * Jean-Pierre Cuzin et Dimitri Salmon, Georges de La Tour : Histoire d'une redécouverte, Paris, Gallimard, Réunion des musées nationaux, coll. « Découvertes Gallimard / Arts » (no 329), 1997, 176 p. () * Jacques Thuillier, Georges de La Tour, Paris, Flammarion, coll. « Les Grandes monographies », 1992 (réimpr. 2012), 318 p. () * Emanuele Castellani, Antonio Fazzini, Chiara Lachi et Daniela Parenti, Georges de La Tour : Le Tricheur à l'as de carreau, t. 16, Paris, Le Monde, coll. « Le Musée du Monde », 2014 () {{DEFAULTSORT:Card Sharp with the Ace of Diamonds Paintings by Georges de La Tour 1630s paintings Paintings in the Louvre by French artists Gambling in art