The artwork of Solitaire and Patience

The games of Solitaire and Patience have inspired their fair share of artwork, from the games inception in the late 18th century, until modern times.

Below is a list of artwork of note, with a focus on historical pieces up until the mid 20th century.

19th Century

The card game, by Jean-Baptiste Mallet (c.1810)

Jean-Baptiste Mallet (1759, Grasse - 16 August 1835, Paris) was a French painter in the Troubadour style.

It’s not clear precisely what game is being played in the painting, but it appears to be a fortune-telling version of Patience, with the seated woman offering predictions to the woman who is standing.

Les trois patiences (The three patiences), by Jehan Georges Vibert (c.1865)

Jehan Georges Vibert or Jean Georges Vibert (30 September 1840 – 28 July 1902) was a French academic painter.

Aline jugando solitario, by Raimundo Madrazo (1880-90)

Raimundo de Madrazo y Garreta (24 July 1841 – 15 September 1920) was a Spanish painter from the Madrazo family of artists who worked in the Realistic style, although his later work shows signs of Rococo and Japanese influence. He was known primarily for his genre paintings and portraits. His grandfather was José de Madrazo, his father was the portrait painter Federico de Madrazo and his brother was Ricardo de Madrazo.

Woman Playing Solitaire, by Alexander Gerymski (1890)

Patience, by John Adamson (1891)

20th Century

Les Cartes (The Game of Solitaire), by Jacques Villon (1903)

Jacques Villon (July 31, 1875 – June 9, 1963), also known as Gaston Duchamp, was a French Cubist and abstract painter and printmaker.

Portrait of Lady Eden, by John Singer Sargent (1906)

John Singer Sargent (January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the “leading portrait painter of his generation” for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more than 2,000 watercolors, as well as countless sketches and charcoal drawings. His oeuvre documents worldwide travel, from Venice to the Tyrol, Corfu, Spain, the Middle East, Montana, Maine, and Florida.

Girl Playing Solitaire, by Frank Weston Benson (1909)

Frank Weston Benson, frequently referred to as Frank W. Benson, (March 24, 1862 – November 15, 1951) was an American artist from Salem, Massachusetts known for his Realistic portraits, American Impressionist paintings, watercolors and etchings. He began his career painting portraits of distinguished families and murals for the Library of Congress. Some of his best known paintings (Eleanor, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Summer, Rhode Island School of Design Museum) depict his daughters outdoors at Benson’s summer home, Wooster Farm, on the island of North Haven, Maine. He also produced numerous oil, wash and watercolor paintings and etchings of wildfowl and landscapes.

Woman Playing Solitaire, by Gertrude Käsebier (c.1910)

Gertrude Käsebier (born Stanton; May 18, 1852 – October 12, 1934) was an American photographer. She was known for her images of motherhood, her portraits of Native Americans, and her promotion of photography as a career for women.

Playing Patience, by Harry Brooker (c.1910)

Harry Brooker was a domestic genre painter in the tradition of artists such as Thomas Webster, F.D. Hardy both members of the Cranbrook Colony. His paintings of interior scenes reveal the warmth and humour of Victorian domestic life, and he is particularly known for his sensitive and charming depictions of children.

Unknown, by Vladimir Makovsky (1911)

Vladimir Yegorovich Makovsky (Russian: Владимир Егорович Маковский; 7 February [O.S. 26 January] 1846 – 21 February 1920) was a Russian painter, art collector, and teacher.

La réussite (Solitaire), by Felix Vallotton (1912)

Félix Édouard Vallotton; December 28, 1865 – December 29, 1925) was a Swiss and French painter and printmaker associated with the group of artists known as Les Nabis. He was an important figure in the development of the modern woodcut. He painted portraits, landscapes, nudes, still lifes, and other subjects in an unemotional, realistic style.

A game of cards, by Victor Marais-Milton (19??)

Victor Marais-Milton was born on July 21st, 1872 in Puteaux, located just west of Paris on the Seine River. Early in his career he lived in Paris but later moved to Sèvres where he remained until his death. He studied in the atelier of Jonchère, but has also been linked to Ernest Meissonnier, who by the end of his career had become a master of genre painting and an inspiration to many artists while working as a teacher in his own atelier for the École des Beaux-Arts.

Unknown, by Louis Icart (1926)

Solitaire, by Gerda Marie Fredrikke Wegener (1928)

Gerda Marie Fredrikke Wegener was a Danish illustrator and painter. Wegener is known for her fashion illustrations and later her paintings that pushed the boundaries of her time concerning gender and love [wiki]

Café Fortune Teller, by Mary Hoover Aiken (1933)

Mary Augusta Hoover Aiken (December 11, 1905 – October 22, 1992) was an American painter. She was the third wife and widow of Pulitzer-Prize winning poet Conrad Aiken.

Solitaire by Raphael Soyer (1934)

Raphael Zalman Soyer was a Russian-born American painter, draftsman, and printmaker. Soyer was referred to as an American scene painter. He is identified as a Social Realist because of his interest in men and women viewed in contemporary settings which included the streets, subways, salons and artists’ studios of New York City. He also wrote several books on his life and art.

Unknown, by Jean Edouard Vuillard (1935)

Jean Edouard Vuillard

A Game of Patience, by Meredith Frampton (1937)

George Vernon Meredith Frampton (17 March 1894 – 16 September 1984) was a British painter and etcher, successful as a portraitist in the 1920s–1940s. His artistic career was short and his output limited because his eyesight began to fail in the 1950s, but his work is on display at the National Portrait Gallery,[1] Tate Gallery and Imperial War Museum.

La Patience (The Patience), by Georges Braque (1942)

Georges Braque (13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century French painter, collagist, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with Fauvism from 1905, and the role he played in the development of Cubism. Braque’s work between 1908 and 1912 is closely associated with that of his colleague Pablo Picasso. Their respective Cubist works were indistinguishable for many years, yet the quiet nature of Braque was partially eclipsed by the fame and notoriety of Picasso.

Patience by Balthus (Balthasar Klossovsky de Rola) (1943)

Balthasar Klossowski de Rola (February 29, 1908 – February 18, 2001), known as Balthus, was a Polish-French modern artist. He is known for his erotically charged images of pubescent girls, but also for the refined, dreamlike quality of his imagery.

Card Players, by Giulio Falzoni (1945)

Giulio Falzoni was an Italian painter. He was born in Mantua but lived for many years in Florence and later in Corso Genova in Milan, his city of choice, of which he painted many views and where he died in 1979. A leading representative of the figurative school of the twentieth century, he produced himself in different techniques but his name remains mainly linked to his mastery in watercolor, of which he was undisputed master.

Patience, by Francis Dodd (19??)

Francis Edgar Dodd RA (29 November 1874 – 7 March 1949) was a British portrait painter, landscape artist and printmaker.

Designer Christian Berard playing solitaire at home, by Dmitri Kessel (1948)

Dmitri Kessel (born Dmitri Solomonovich Keselman, Russian: Дмитрий Соломонович Кесельман; 20 August 1902 – 26 March 1995) was a photojournalist and staff photographer on Life magazine known for his courageous coverage of war on the front line, including reports on the liberation of Europe and conflict in the Congo.

Solitaire, by Norman Rockwell (1950)

Solitaire, a Norman Rockwell painting , appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post published August 19, 1950.

Norman Percevel Rockwell (February 3, 1894 – November 8, 1978) was an American painter and illustrator. His works have a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of the country’s culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life he created for The Saturday Evening Post magazine over nearly five decades.[1] Among the best-known of Rockwell’s works are the Willie Gillis series, Rosie the Riveter, The Problem We All Live With, Saying Grace, and the Four Freedoms series. He is also noted for his 64-year relationship with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), during which he produced covers for their publication Boys’ Life, calendars, and other illustrations. These works include popular images that reflect the Scout Oath and Scout Law such as The Scoutmaster, A Scout Is Reverent[2] and A Guiding Hand,[3] among many others.

Patience by Balthus (Balthasar Klossovsky de Rola) (1955)

This piece depicts a woman leaning over a Soliatire game in precisely the same fashion as Balthus’ 1943 work by the same name.

Balthasar Klossowski de Rola (February 29, 1908 – February 18, 2001), known as Balthus, was a Polish-French modern artist. He is known for his erotically charged images of pubescent girls, but also for the refined, dreamlike quality of his imagery.

Patience and the Passing of Time, by Kit Williams (1979)

Christopher “Kit” Williams (born 28 April 1946) is an English artist, illustrator and author best known for his 1979 book Masquerade, a pictorial storybook which contains clues to the location of a golden (18 carat) jewelled hare created by Williams and then buried “somewhere in Britain”.