Paul Cezanne was one of the most famous artists of the Post-Impressionist period in France. Art critics regard one of his later works, a series of oil paintings entitled The Card Players, to be his masterpiece, if not a cornerstone of his final artistic period.

Toward the end of his life, Cezanne was experiencing a low point emotionally and a brilliant resurgence artistically. Withdrawing from his illness and other troubles, he threw himself into painting during the early 1890s, producing some of his best work. This work included a series of paintings that he called The Card Players. It's widely believed that Cezanne took inspiration from a painting of card players that hung in an museum near his home in Aix-en-Provence.

While there are five paintings in the series altogether, the basic scene rarely changes. We see two or more men sitting at a table, smoking and playing cards together. The men are supposed to be local peasants, inspired by local farmhands whom Cezanne used as his models for the paintings. In some paintings, there are as many as five people around the table, with brighter colors, but the most famous depictions feature only two card players, staring intently down at their game.

What can we deduce about Cezanne from this painting? At the time, he was moving away from his Impressionist period, away from brighter colors and fluid lines. The men at the table are stark and painted with realistic detail. And while there were originally more card players, Cezanne reduced the number to just two players, both focused on their game with the utmost seriousness. Despite the heavy detail in the painting, both men sit without any sign of moving. Critics like Richard Dorment have called this piece a "human still life." And if you look closely, you'll see that the clothes of the two card players are deliberately in contrast. Cezanne was focused on showing two ordinary men--both dressed differently and from different backgrounds--coming together to share in the simple act of a card game. They're as focused on the game as Cezanne was focused on his art at the time.

Because of its fame and its beauty, individual paintings in the Card Players series have been sold at auction numerous times. The most significant sale occurred in February 2011, when the Royal Family of Qatar purchased a painting of The Card Players from Greek shipping magnate George Embiricos. While the actual figure is still unknown, the price is believed to be well over $250 million, making this painting the most expensive work of art ever sold.

You can find paintings from the Card Players series in museums like the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, and the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.

Image by Joaquin Martinez on Flickr