Groupe de joueurs 

Jean-Louis Forain drew this image of a group of card players, probably in the late 19th or early 20th century. The intensity of the players' expressions and postures draws the viewer into their world, a world of leisure and perhaps vice. Images like this belong to a rich tradition in European art that depicts scenes of everyday life, often with a critical edge. We might see references to French Realism, but also the satirical prints of artists like Daumier. Forain himself made many such drawings of Parisian life, especially its seedier sides. What makes this image interesting is the way that it captures a specifically masculine culture, one that is implicitly closed off to outsiders. If we want to understand it better, we might look to contemporary novels or sociological studies of leisure in France at the turn of the century. Ultimately, it is through such contextual investigation that the historian can bring an image like this to life.