Inscription: Signed and dated (lower left): EMeissonier [initials in monogram] 1863
James H. Stebbins, New York (by 1879–89; his sale, American Art Association, New York, February 12, 1889, no. 72, as "The Game Lost," for $26,300 to Huntington); Collis P. Huntington, New York (1889–d. 1900; his bequest to The Met with life interest to his widow, Arabella D. Huntington, later [from 1913] Mrs. Henry E. Huntington, 1900–d. 1924; life interest to their son, Archer Milton Huntington, 1924–terminated in 1925)
Cincinnati. Taft Museum. "Cavaliers and Cardinals: Nineteenth-Century French Anecdotal Paintings," June 25–August 16, 1992, no. 21 (as "The Cardplayers" or "La Partie Perdue [The Lost Game]").
Washington. Corcoran Gallery of Art. "Cavaliers and Cardinals: Nineteenth-Century French Anecdotal Paintings," September 19–November 15, 1992, no. 21.
Elmira, N.Y. Arnot Art Museum. "Cavaliers and Cardinals: Nineteenth-Century French Anecdotal Paintings," November 21, 1992–January 17, 1993, no. 21.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Cézanne's Card Players," February 9–May 8, 2011, not in catalogue.
Edward Strahan [Earl Shinn], ed. The Art Treasures of America. Philadelphia, [1880], vol. 1, pp. 97–98, 106, ill. (facsimile of a sketch of the painting), as "The Game Lost".
Cicerone. "American Art Galleries: X. Collection of James H. Stebbins, Esq." Art Amateur 5 (July 1881), p. 30, calls it "The Game Lost".
The Complete Works of E. Meissonier with Biography. New York, [1884], vol. 1, pl. XLIII, as "Partie perdue".
E[mile]. Durand-Gréville. "La Peinture aux États-Unis: Les Galeries privées (1er article)." Gazette des beaux-arts, 2nd ser., 36 (July 1887), p. 73.
Marius Chaumelin. Portraits d'artistes: E. Meissonier, J. Breton. Paris, 1887, p. 49, no. 109, as "Partie perdue".
Lionel Robinson. J. L. E. Meissonier, Hon. R. A. London, [1887], pp. 21–22, ill. (wood engraving), calls it "Une Partie perdue" in the text and "The Card-Players" in the caption.
"Some Former Picture Auctions." Art Amateur 24 (March 1891), p. 6.
"'Meissoniers' Owned by Americans." Art Amateur 24 (March 1891), p. 6.
John Denison Champlin Jr. and Charles C. Perkins, ed. Cyclopedia of Painters and Paintings. New York, 1892, vol. 3, p. 236, as "Lost Game".
Vallery C. O. Gréard. Meissonier: His Life and his Art. New York, 1897, p. 370, as "Four Soldiers of the Time of Louis XIII".
Josephine L. Allen and Elizabeth E. Gardner. A Concise Catalogue of the European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1954, p. 66.
Charles Sterling and Margaretta M. Salinger. French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 2, XIX Century. New York, 1966, pp. 150–51, ill., call it "The Cardplayers" and note that its title prior to coming to the United States was "Four Soldiers of Louis XIII"; remark that the artist copied Teniers in the background and in the pipe placed on a bench.
Wesley Towner completed by Stephen Varble. The Elegant Auctioneers. New York, 1970, p. 122, as "The Game Lost".
Petra ten-Doesschate Chu. French Realism and the Dutch Masters: The Influence of Dutch Seventeenth-Century Painting on the Development of French Painting between 1830 and 1870. Utrecht, 1974, p. 36, fig. 44, remarks that all of Meissonier's guardroom scenes are based on Dutch seventeenth-century paintings on the same theme, adding that this work seems especially influenced by Brouwer and Teniers.
Theodore Reff. "Cézanne's 'Cardplayers' and Their Sources." Arts Magazine 55 (November 1980), p. 115, fig. 23, suggests that one of Meissonier's guardroom scenes, such as this picture, inspired Cézanne's drawing "Cabaret Scene" (1860–62; Musée du Louvre, Paris).
Philippe Guilloux. Meissonier: Trois siècles d'histoire. Paris, 1980, ill. p. 23.
Mary Tompkins Lewis. Cézanne's Early Imagery. Berkeley, 1989, p. 133, fig. 68, notes that in his guardsman scenes, such as this picture, Meissonier placed more emphasis on the anecdotal compared to Cézanne or other realists inspired by northern genre painting.
Eric M. Zafran. Cavaliers and Cardinals: Nineteenth-Century French Anecdotal Paintings. Exh. cat., Taft Museum. Cincinnati, 1992, pp. 25, 70–71, no. 21, ill.
Constance Cain Hungerford inErnest Meissonier: Rétrospective. Exh. cat., Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lyons. Lyons, 1993, p. 107, calls it "Partie perdue"; mentions it as one of Meissonier's genre scenes featuring cavaliers or soldiers from past centuries.
Joyce Medina. Cézanne and Modernism: The Poetics of Painting. Albany, 1995, pp. 162–63, dates it 1860–63; states that Cézanne copied one of the figures in this picture in his "Cabaret Scene" (Louvre) [see Ref. Reff 1980].
Katharine Baetjer. European Paintings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art by Artists Born Before 1865: A Summary Catalogue. New York, 1995, p. 420, ill., as "The Card Players".
The Met's Libraries and Research Centers provide unparalleled resources for research and welcome an international community of students and scholars.
The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can connect to the most up-to-date data and public domain images for The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.
