Joker

A young child with tousled auburn curls and a white ruffled collar sits atop a marquetry chest of drawers, dark blue overalls covering a white blouse, striped blue-and-white stockings dangling over the edge. Small pale cards spill from the child's hands and hover in mid-air against a warm brown wall. Behind, a curtain patterned in blue, red, green and orange diamonds frames the scene, while the chest below holds an antique mantel clock, a black chess piece, seashells, a coral-bead necklace and a pendant.

Rendered in smooth academic brushwork, the child's porcelain skin and searching gaze are painted with careful realism, and the still-life objects on the chest receive the same meticulous finish. Warm ochre tones dominate, set off by the harlequin fabric's saturated primaries, and the weightless cards give an otherwise intimate scene a quietly surreal, theatrical touch.