Artwork
Le Poker (Poker)
Le Poker (Poker) is an ink print by the Impressionist artist Félix Vallotton. It dates from 1896 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
About this work
Overview
Created in 1896, Le Poker is a woodcut print by Félix Vallotton, a Swiss‑French artist linked to the post‑Impressionist group Les Nabis. The image presents a compact interior scene in which four men sit around a table engaged in a game of cards, their features rendered in simplified, almost schematic forms.
Subject & Meaning
The composition captures a moment of quiet concentration among the players, their heads rendered as large, blocky shapes and their eyes reduced to minimal dots. Candles illuminate the tabletop, casting a subdued glow over the cards and chips, emphasizing the ritualistic and perhaps clandestine nature of the gambling activity.
Technique & Style
Vallotton employed the woodcut medium, carving stark black lines into a dark field to produce a flat, graphic effect. The lack of gradation and the emphasis on bold outlines reflect the artist’s departure from the blended hues of Impressionism toward a more austere, realist aesthetic favored by the Nabis.
History & Provenance
During the 1890s Vallotton’s involvement with Les Nabis encouraged a move toward simplification and abstraction, a shift that brought his woodcuts international attention. Le Poker exemplifies this period of his career, when his prints were widely exhibited and collected across Europe.
Context
The work aligns with the broader turn in late‑19th‑century French art toward graphic clarity and social observation. By focusing on an everyday leisure activity, Vallotton joins contemporaries who explored modern life’s private moments through a restrained visual language.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Félix Édouard Vallotton (French: ; December 28, 1865 – December 29, 1925) was a Swiss and French painter and printmaker associated with the group of artists known as Les Nabis.
Poker
Untitled
Avec l'internationale, plus d'armies, plus de militaires rien que les guerres civiles
Eine Mutter III (A Mother III)
Et toi, qu'est-ce que tu trouves de meilleur ...
Quand le crime ne donne pas
Eavesdropping
Untitled
Artists' Evening
Supper of the Poor (Le souper chez misere)
The Mandolin Player (Mandoliniste)- A la table de jeu (At the Gambling Table)