The Card Players c. 1630 - 1635

Curator: Immediately, I'm struck by the apparent precariousness. This scene by Andries Both, *The Card Players*, made sometime between 1630 and 1635 and now at the Rijksmuseum, seems caught mid-breath. The players and setting feel decidedly provisional. Editor: Provisional, yes, almost cobbled together. Look at that rough-hewn table, the makeshift seating on the barrel. And that crumbling plaster wall! The sheer materiality speaks to a world of work, survival and probably a fair bit of scrounging. I wonder where Both found these subjects… Curator: I wonder about that, too. We often interpret these genre paintings as glimpses into the lives of the "lower" classes, but how constructed are those glimpses? And what is the emotional through-line? For example, consider the expressions. There's a mix of calculation and…is that suspicion I see? Editor: Perhaps it's more of an acute awareness. Look closely, and you see the signs of poverty, of tough outdoor labor – these aren't simply "peasants." Their weathered hands and faces betray their relationship with labor and land. You know, one is also very close to selling eggs if you notice the ones scattered in the foreground Curator: I agree it's hardly idyllic. The game itself is, of course, symbolic of larger societal forces. Risk, chance, the illusion of control. And don’t you feel, there is a moralizing dimension too? This almost crude, material simplicity as an implicit judgment of more extravagant aristocratic pursuits? Editor: Interesting. I lean towards thinking about what's left *out* of the frame. Where did Both obtain his oil pigments, his canvas? This kind of everyday scene comes from elite money and production networks, far away from these card players' world of eggs, barrel-chairs, and home-spun fabrics. The tension makes the painting richer, even as the men play for a richer world Curator: So it goes both ways: those men pursue greater lives playing cards with a similar deck and a very specific painting practice gave space and permanence to men with much tougher hands than the artist. In that way, the cards in their hands reflect what remains of Both's painting as well: a bit of gamble in its longevity. Editor: That's it. A gamble whose stakes go far beyond what they are playing for in that rickety space. A reminder that survival and luxury rely on all sorts of card games and trades.