Mordecai Ardon 1896-1992

From the time that he painted his celebrated work of 1956 The House of Cards (Vishny, no. 86), the subject of cards was a major preoccupation for Ardon. In a sense, he was taking the cards out of the hands of Cézanne's Cardplayers, precursors of a whole genre of modernist art, and investing the tools of the concentrated game with their own life. At the same time the small rectangular form of a card, very nearly the perfect aesthetic shape obeying renaissance rules of the Golden section, became for Ardon a device with which to build his compositions, as much as the stones of Jerusalem in many of his landscapes. Another work which celebrates the subject is Patience of 1962 (Vishny, no. 119) as well as Adventures of an Ace of Hearts (Vishny, no. 206) also painted in 1962. The present work, however, takes the subject a step further, and with the compositional anchor of a piano keyboard running along the bottom edge of the canvas, a playful yet serious reference to music is introduced. Ardon is attempting to affect an apotheothis of the symbols of human leisure, orchestrating them into a visual statement of great force. The sense of depth at the center of this composition suggests that Ardon is attempting to create a palpable space in which human fantasy can operate. At the same time the subject of cardplaying has a note of pathos or human vulnerability. Much often depends on the outcome of a game of cards, whilst cards are themselves flimsy, weightless objects. Discussing The House of Cards, Michèle Vishny saw that  "Two opposing kings depicted by playing cards, are set in opposite corners of the painting. The queen sits in her fragile shelter, staring across the battlefield." (Michèle Vishny , Ardon, New York, n.d., p. 55). Nevertheless, the sense of understated conflict evident in Ardon's earlier works on the cardplaying theme here seems to have been resolved. The Hebrew letter, the moon and constellation of stars also included in this composition remind us of Ardon's interest in Cabalistic readings and mystical interpretations, giving the picture an otherworldly atmosphere. A certain kind of joyous, musical, yet enigmatic harmony is the result.