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Mount may be alluding to a larger subject than mere card playing. The period of the 1830s, when Mount began painting, was a period of rampant land speculation in America. On Mount’s own Long Island, land speculation on the railroad route was feverish and property values had multiplied unbelievably. In newspapers, writers warned people about the dangers of speculation—not only the threat to the economy, but also to an individual’s character. [1] Mount may not just be warning the viewer against card playing and gambling but also referencing the general culture of speculation at the time. The dilapidated house might then symbolize the country.
Notes:
[1] Elizabeth Johns, American Genre Painting: The Politics of Everyday Life. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991.
ProvenanceTo 1873
Estate of the Artist [1]
From 1873
Charles Q. Archdeacon, received from the artist’s Estate in January 1873 from unsold auction works. [2]
Charles J. Werner, acquired from Charles Q. Archdeacon. [3]
Estate of Johnson Saunders, Nassau, Bahamas, B.W.I. [4]
About 1967
Vose Galleries, Boston. [5]
From at least 1967 to 1968
Mr. and Mrs. Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr. (born 1938), Cambridge MA, purchased from Vose Galleries, Boston. [6]
About 1968
Kennedy Galleries, Inc., New York NY. [7]
From 1969 to 1975
Barbara B. Millhouse, purchased from Kennedy Galleries, Inc., New York on March 14, 1969. [8]
From 1974
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem NC, partial and promised gift of Barbara B. Millhouse, full ownership transferred in 1975. [9]
Notes:
[1] Inventory of the artist’s Estate, on file in the Surrogate’s Court of Suffolk County, New York, at Riverhead, no. 161. From letter to Barbara Lassiter (Millhouse) from Alfred V. Frankenstein of the San Francisco Chronicle on May 10, 1970.
[2]Kennedy Galleries, Inc. documentation, object file. Great-grandnephew of the artist. Also, old cover/summary sheet from 1994, object file.
[3] Kenney Galleries, Inc. documentation, object file. Also descendent of the artist.
[4] Kenney Galleries, Inc. documentation, object file.
[5] Info sheet from Yale’s 1968 ‘American Art from Alumni Collections’ exhibit, copy in object file.
[6] See note 4. Lent to Yale University Art Gallery in 1968.
[7] Kennedy Galleries, Inc., Bill of sale, object file.
[8] See note 7.
[9] Deeds of gift: December 31, 1974 and September 30, 1975, object file.
Exhibition History1968
American Art from Alumni Collections
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven CT (4/25/1968-6/16/1968)
Cat. No. 63
1981
Life in 19th Century America
Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston IL (9/11/1981- 11/15/1981)
1990-1992
American Originals, Selections from Reynolda House Museum of American Art
The American Federation of Arts
Center for the Fine Arts, Miami FL (9/22/1990-11/18/1990)
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs CA (12/16/1990-2/10/1991)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York NY (3/6/1991-5/11/1991)
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis TN (6/2/1991-7/28/1991)
Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth TX (8/17/1991-10/20/1991)
Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago IL (11/17/1991-1/12/1992)
The Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK (3/1/1992-4/26/1992)
2005
Vanguard Collecting: American Art at Reynolda House
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem NC (4/2005-8/2005)
2010
Virtue, Vice, Wisdom, & Folly: The Moralizing Tradition in American Art
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem NC (9/18/2010-12/31/2010)
2018
Outlaws in American Art
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (February 28, 2018 - December 2, 2018)
Published ReferencesSomerville Art Gallery, New York. Executor's Sale Of Fine Oil Paintings By W.S. Mount, N.A. April 10-11, 1871, no. 161.
New York Herald. April 10, 1871.
Werner, Charles J. Historic Miscellanies Relating To Long Island. 1917, 41.
Buffet, Edward P. "William Sidney Mount: A Biography..." Port Jefferson Times June 12, 1924.
Cowdrey, Bartlett and Herman Warner Williams, Jr. William Sidney Mount 1807-1868: An American Painter. New York, 1944, 32.
Frankenstein, Alfred. "William Sidney Mount and the Act of Painting." The American Art Journal. Vol. 1, No. 1, (Spring 1969): 39.
Lassiter, Barbara B. Reynolda House American Paintings. Winston-Salem, NC: Reynolda House, Inc., 1971, 23.
Millhouse, Barbara B. and Robert Workman. American Originals New York: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1990, 46-7.
Psychiatric Services: A Journal of the American Psychiatric Association. 50, no. 8 (August 1999): cover illus.
"Inventory of the Estate of William S. Mount." Surrogates Office, Riverhead New York, February 18, 1870.
Millhouse, Barbara B. American Wilderness: The Hudson River School of Painting. Black Dome Press, 2007.
“American Art from Alumni Collections.” New Haven: Yale University Art Gallery, 1968, no. 63.
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Reynolda: Her Muses, Her Stories , with contributions by Martha R. Severens and David Park Curry (Winston-Salem, N.C.: Reynolda House Museum of American Art affiliated with Wake Forest University, 2017). pg. 138, 139
DepartmentAmerican Art
The Card Players
Artist
William Sidney Mount
(1807 - 1868)
Date1845-1850
Mediumoil on panel
DimensionsFrame: 27 3/4 x 33 1/8 in. (70.5 x 84.1 cm)
Canvas: 19 3/4 x 25 in. (50.2 x 63.5 cm)
SignedWm S. MOUNT
Credit LineGift of Barbara B. Millhouse
CopyrightPublic Domain
Object number1974.2.1
DescriptionAt first glance, the scene in William Sidney Mount’s The Card Players—two men enjoying a game of cards—appears fairly benign. Looking closer, however, we notice signs of disarray. A jug on the floor and coins on the table signify that the men are both drinking and gambling. Discarded in the trash barrel, a piece of crumpled paper bears the word “sermon.” Worst of all, the roof has caved in, the glass panes are broken, and the hearth—the heart of the home—is crumbling. Mount’s message is that the men have neglected their duties to family, farm, and faith in favor of an ill-advised plan to make some easy money gambling. A master satirist of the “get-rich-quick” schemes of his day, Mount presents us here with a clear cautionary tale.Mount may be alluding to a larger subject than mere card playing. The period of the 1830s, when Mount began painting, was a period of rampant land speculation in America. On Mount’s own Long Island, land speculation on the railroad route was feverish and property values had multiplied unbelievably. In newspapers, writers warned people about the dangers of speculation—not only the threat to the economy, but also to an individual’s character. [1] Mount may not just be warning the viewer against card playing and gambling but also referencing the general culture of speculation at the time. The dilapidated house might then symbolize the country.
Notes:
[1] Elizabeth Johns, American Genre Painting: The Politics of Everyday Life. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1991.
ProvenanceTo 1873
Estate of the Artist [1]
From 1873
Charles Q. Archdeacon, received from the artist’s Estate in January 1873 from unsold auction works. [2]
Charles J. Werner, acquired from Charles Q. Archdeacon. [3]
Estate of Johnson Saunders, Nassau, Bahamas, B.W.I. [4]
About 1967
Vose Galleries, Boston. [5]
From at least 1967 to 1968
Mr. and Mrs. Theodore E. Stebbins, Jr. (born 1938), Cambridge MA, purchased from Vose Galleries, Boston. [6]
About 1968
Kennedy Galleries, Inc., New York NY. [7]
From 1969 to 1975
Barbara B. Millhouse, purchased from Kennedy Galleries, Inc., New York on March 14, 1969. [8]
From 1974
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem NC, partial and promised gift of Barbara B. Millhouse, full ownership transferred in 1975. [9]
Notes:
[1] Inventory of the artist’s Estate, on file in the Surrogate’s Court of Suffolk County, New York, at Riverhead, no. 161. From letter to Barbara Lassiter (Millhouse) from Alfred V. Frankenstein of the San Francisco Chronicle on May 10, 1970.
[2]Kennedy Galleries, Inc. documentation, object file. Great-grandnephew of the artist. Also, old cover/summary sheet from 1994, object file.
[3] Kenney Galleries, Inc. documentation, object file. Also descendent of the artist.
[4] Kenney Galleries, Inc. documentation, object file.
[5] Info sheet from Yale’s 1968 ‘American Art from Alumni Collections’ exhibit, copy in object file.
[6] See note 4. Lent to Yale University Art Gallery in 1968.
[7] Kennedy Galleries, Inc., Bill of sale, object file.
[8] See note 7.
[9] Deeds of gift: December 31, 1974 and September 30, 1975, object file.
Exhibition History1968
American Art from Alumni Collections
Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven CT (4/25/1968-6/16/1968)
Cat. No. 63
1981
Life in 19th Century America
Terra Museum of American Art, Evanston IL (9/11/1981- 11/15/1981)
1990-1992
American Originals, Selections from Reynolda House Museum of American Art
The American Federation of Arts
Center for the Fine Arts, Miami FL (9/22/1990-11/18/1990)
Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs CA (12/16/1990-2/10/1991)
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York NY (3/6/1991-5/11/1991)
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis TN (6/2/1991-7/28/1991)
Amon Carter Museum of Western Art, Fort Worth TX (8/17/1991-10/20/1991)
Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago IL (11/17/1991-1/12/1992)
The Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK (3/1/1992-4/26/1992)
2005
Vanguard Collecting: American Art at Reynolda House
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem NC (4/2005-8/2005)
2010
Virtue, Vice, Wisdom, & Folly: The Moralizing Tradition in American Art
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Winston-Salem NC (9/18/2010-12/31/2010)
2018
Outlaws in American Art
Reynolda House Museum of American Art (February 28, 2018 - December 2, 2018)
Published ReferencesSomerville Art Gallery, New York. Executor's Sale Of Fine Oil Paintings By W.S. Mount, N.A. April 10-11, 1871, no. 161.
New York Herald. April 10, 1871.
Werner, Charles J. Historic Miscellanies Relating To Long Island. 1917, 41.
Buffet, Edward P. "William Sidney Mount: A Biography..." Port Jefferson Times June 12, 1924.
Cowdrey, Bartlett and Herman Warner Williams, Jr. William Sidney Mount 1807-1868: An American Painter. New York, 1944, 32.
Frankenstein, Alfred. "William Sidney Mount and the Act of Painting." The American Art Journal. Vol. 1, No. 1, (Spring 1969): 39.
Lassiter, Barbara B. Reynolda House American Paintings. Winston-Salem, NC: Reynolda House, Inc., 1971, 23.
Millhouse, Barbara B. and Robert Workman. American Originals New York: Abbeville Press Publishers, 1990, 46-7.
Psychiatric Services: A Journal of the American Psychiatric Association. 50, no. 8 (August 1999): cover illus.
"Inventory of the Estate of William S. Mount." Surrogates Office, Riverhead New York, February 18, 1870.
Millhouse, Barbara B. American Wilderness: The Hudson River School of Painting. Black Dome Press, 2007.
“American Art from Alumni Collections.” New Haven: Yale University Art Gallery, 1968, no. 63.
Reynolda House Museum of American Art, Reynolda: Her Muses, Her Stories , with contributions by Martha R. Severens and David Park Curry (Winston-Salem, N.C.: Reynolda House Museum of American Art affiliated with Wake Forest University, 2017). pg. 138, 139
Status
On viewCollections
1910-1920
