A Game of Dice 1919

Ferdinand Leeke made this painting, A Game of Dice, in 1885. The earth tones give it a certain feeling, right? Like the artist's trying to dig down into something primal. You can almost smell the woodsmoke and ale. Look at how Leeke layers the paint, especially in the foreground. It's thick and almost sculptural, giving those Viking knees a real, solid presence. Then, in the background, he thins it out, creating this hazy, dreamlike space. I'm drawn to the way he renders the light around the fire. It feels both naturalistic and theatrical, like he’s staging a scene from a saga. It reminds me of some of the Pre-Raphaelites, like Arthur Hughes, who were also interested in these kinds of historical and mythological subjects. But where they aimed for a kind of hyper-realism, Leeke's got a looser, more painterly touch. For Leeke, and for us, it’s all about imagining a past that never really existed.