1912 Verre et cartes Е jouer Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Period of creation: 1908-1918

The composition presents a fragmented still life, rendered in a palette dominated by ochre, brown, and grey tones with accents of red and black. The arrangement appears deliberately disordered, defying conventional spatial logic. Several elements are discernible: playing cards, fragments of what might be glass or reflective surfaces, and an upright structure resembling a column or perhaps a stylized bottle.
The playing cards, notably one displaying a club symbol, are not depicted realistically but rather as fractured planes intersecting at oblique angles. Their presence introduces a layer of symbolic complexity; the association with games suggests chance, risk, and potentially deception. The scattered nature of these cards implies disruption or a game in progress that has been abruptly halted.
The vertical element, painted in shades of red and brown, is similarly deconstructed. It lacks clear definition, its form dissolving into the surrounding planes. This ambiguity contributes to the overall sense of instability and challenges the viewer’s ability to establish a fixed point of reference. The inclusion of what appears to be glass or reflective surfaces further complicates perception; these elements refract light and distort the visual field, adding to the paintings inherent disorientation.
The background is not treated as a unified space but rather as a series of overlapping planes, creating a shallow depth and flattening the pictorial space. This technique reinforces the emphasis on form and structure over illusionistic representation. The artist’s brushwork appears deliberate, with visible strokes that contribute to the paintings textural quality.
Subtly, there is an underlying tension between order and chaos. While the composition is fragmented and seemingly random, a careful arrangement of shapes and colors suggests a controlled process. This interplay may allude to the complexities of perception itself – how we attempt to make sense of a world that is inherently fractured and ambiguous. The signature in the lower right corner provides a subtle anchor within this disarray, grounding the work within an artistic context.