In 1890, Cézanne undertook this ambitious genre scene of peasants playing cards, possibly in emulation of Mathieu Le Nain, whose painting of the same subject was on view in the museum at Aix. He painted five versions of the scene. The largest (Barnes Foundation, Merion, Pennsylvania) is thought to be the earliest, the Metropolitan Museum's painting the next. The last three (Courtauld Institute, London; Musée d'Orsay, Paris; private collection, Stockholm) depict only two players starkly confronting one another across the table.

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