Jean-Siméon Chardin – French painter.
The House of Cards (c1736-37)
When will the house of cards collapse? Never.
It is frozen in time by oil painting.
Chardin’s still and silent composition invites us
to concentrate
on the boy’s calm intentness as he prepares
to add one more card to his fragile creation.
Life is arrested by art.
• National Gallery, London.
