Following the steps below will help you look at this painting, The Card Players by Paul Cézanne.

Step One: Look

• What is happening in this artwork?
• What is the mood of this painting?
• Share your ideas with another student. Do you agree?

Step Two: Analyze

Color

• What colors do you see in this painting?
• How do colors move your eye to look at different parts of the painting?
• Do you see a color that is repeated in different places in the painting?

Line

• Where do you see lines in the painting? Are they curvy or straight, neat or jagged?

Light

• What parts of the painting are brightest? What parts are darkest?

Space

• What kind of room are the people in? How can you tell?
• What shapes do you see in the painting? Are they repeated in other parts of the painting?

Step Three: Compare

To begin comparing this painting with others, please launch the slideshow found in the right sidebar.

Download relevant worksheet here.

• What is the same between these two paintings? What is different?

Step Four: Explore

On the map below, locate where the artist Paul Cézanne came from. Research it. 

Download relevant worksheets here and here.