Card Player

Isabel Bishop, Card Player, 1937, pen and ink, ink wash, and pencil on paper, sheet: 10 x 5 ¹⁄₄ in. (25.3 x 13.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Frank McClure, 1979.98.31

Artwork Details

Title: Card Player
Artist: Isabel Bishop
Date: 1937
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: sheet: 10 x 5 ¹⁄₄ in. (25.3 x 13.3 cm)
Credit Line: Bequest of Frank McClure
Mediums: pencil
ink
Mediums Description: pen and ink, ink wash, and pencil on paper
Classifications: Drawing
Subjects: Figure male — full length
Recreation — sport and play — cards
Object Number: 1979.98.31
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1979.98.31

Artwork Description

Bishop moved to her studio in Union Square in New York City in 1934 and spent much of her time sketching people in the area engaged in their everyday activities. She believed that drawings were crucial steps in planning a painting. Bishop dedicated herself to this kind of preparatory work to such an extent that she sometimes completed only four paintings per year. Bishop herself once stated, “A pen drawing will often contain everything that will become the final picture.”

Graphic Masters II: Highlights from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2009