The Card Players

The Card Players comprises a sequence of oil paintings crafted by the French Post-Impressionist maestro, Paul Cézanne. Produced during his later creative phase in the early 1890s, this series encompasses five distinct paintings. These renditions diverge in dimensions, the count of participants engaged in the game, and the backdrop against which the gameplay unfolds. In anticipation of executing The Card Players collection, Cézanne also undertook an array of sketches and preliminary studies.

One instance of The Card Players attained a new pinnacle in the art world in 2011. It exchanged hands with the Royal Family of Qatar for a sum approximated at $250 million (equivalent to $325.2 million in present times). This transaction established a groundbreaking precedent, setting the highest record for a painting’s price, a record that endured until November 2017.