World Famous Paintings Dedicated to Gambling

Works of art often tell stories, and it takes a keen eye to figure out what the representation is all about. In recent times, painters have found a new calling, using this means to pass a message to the Interactive Gaming (iGaming) community. 

If you’re in Canada and still stuck with the heydays of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, it’s time to see things from a different perspective. From Dogs Playing Poker by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge to The Cardsharps by Caravaggio, there are lots of modern paintings that promote gambling in plain sight.

Has Art Influenced Gambling?

Meant to describe emotions or ideas, paintings can be used to make reference to events in times past, forecast the future or even be used as a subtle means of promoting a new ideology. The latter has become the case as paintings are now used to induce and influence more people to gamble online in Canada and other parts of the world.

Popular Gambling-Styled Paintings

The Dogs Playing Poker and The Cardsharps are two of the most popular artworks closely affiliated with gambling.

  1. Dogs Playing Poker

This was drawn by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge at the request of Brown & Bigelow, an advertising company. This is a series that includes 18 canvases featuring humanized dogs seated at a table, playing poker.

The company ordered the painting called A Friend in Need to help promote a cigar company. The idea of using dogs dressed in human clothing stems from the artist’s love for dogs and his decision to depict human players in that form.

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  1. The Cardsharps

Drawn in the early 17th century, this painting by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio aptly captures a commonality in the gambling space - cheating. The painting shows a naive and probably inexperienced player who was in the midst of professional cardshafts. While one was holding extra cards behind his back, the other was stealthily peeping into the young man’s cards.

The idea was for the “peeping tom” to inform the other cardshaft of the sign the young man was to play so he could pull out a matching card and have an increased chance of winning the game.

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  1. At the Roulette Table in Monte Carlo

Painted by Edvard Munch, the artwork captures the artist’s love for the game of roulette, which, at the time, got him so addicted to the point he became a regular face at casinos.

The At the Roulette Table in Monte Carlo painting was heavily influenced by his frequent visits to card houses during his stay in the south of France. Important details in the painting are:

  • Suspense-filled atmosphere as every player is cautious of the hand they play.
  • He aptly captured the likely behaviour of most players. You could see someone from the foreground, notebook in hand, jotting down the numbers as they land on the roulette wheel.

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3. The Card Players

Painted by Paul Cezanne, this series of paintings had the following attributes:

  • 5 unique paintings that depicted the artist’s perception of the characters and the atmosphere.
  • The feeling of calmness can be viewed from the demeanour of the two players, as they sat opposite each other in a cafe, smoking pipes and playing cards.

  1. The Cheat with the Ace of Clubs

We wouldn’t end the list of popular paintings that represent gambling without talking about this one from Georges de La Tour. Set in the mid-17th century, the artwork shows a man playing cards with three ladies. If that’s not weird enough, wait until you peep the extra pair of aces behind his back.

One can deduce the following after close observation:

  • The man seems to be «out of place» as he doesn’t seem to have the composure expected of someone playing to win.
  • In a rather twist of fate, he holds extra aces at his back, implying that despite being out of place in the whole atmosphere, he is a master card shaft who waits for the right time to play his hand.
  • The painter uses a mix of light and dark contrasts to depict the emotion in the room.

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Transitioning from Paintings to Real Life

Paintings can be used to convey strong messages and emotions, as we have seen from the few examples illustrated above. The knowledge obtained shows that manipulations and deceits are prominent in card and slot games. Being informed and taking concise steps to stay ahead is important.

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