R709 – Le Joueur de cartes, 1890-1892 (FWN682)
Pavel Machotka
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One of the studies for the player who will appear on the left in the two large compositions, but facing the other way, is a portrait; his pose, his clothing, and the modeling on his face, are closely observed. He is the one who may have had to pose again for the large painting; he is slimmer, better to align with the standing figure. The figure is carefully studied under a particular light and in a certain spot, and then it is studied again in the opposite light; only the unfinished space on the left tells us that this is a study for a larger painting rather than a composition of its own.
Source: Machotka, Cézanne: the Eye and the Mind.