Portrait of Gamblers

John D. Frederic

National Gallery of Art

The image shows five young men sitting closely together on the floor, playing cards. The man on the left is seated cross-legged, wearing a bowler hat and holding a cane, along with a cigarette. He is in a suit with a vest and a bow tie. To his right, two men are leaned over cards and money in the center. They wear dark vests, bow ties, and have cigarettes in their mouths. One is adjusting his cards. Standing behind them, a man in a dark suit with a lighter tie has his hand on a seated man's shoulder, with slicked-back hair. On the far right, another man is similar in dress and posture to the first, also with a bowler hat, vest, bow tie, and cigarette. The background features an ornate, patterned backdrop resembling a decorative setting in portrait photography of that era.