tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post2733684169443104923..comments2024-01-28T03:56:39.351-08:00Comments on TOM CLARK: Profane Illumination (The Card Sharps)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-7040323214245627862013-04-30T08:08:55.640-07:002013-04-30T08:08:55.640-07:00The eyeline dynamics in the Louvre version of Chea...The eyeline dynamics in the Louvre version of Cheater with the Ace of Diamonds seem to have just that jot more of wickedness than in the Fort Worth version (probably done a bit earlier); it's as though de La Tour were only gradually coming to terms with the darkness of the world that's implied in this circle of deceit and machination -- perhaps that same darkness of "fallen"-ness which also surrounds his inward-gazing Magdalene.<br /><br />Ricky Jay has appeared in a number of David Mamet's movies; it appears Mamet has learned a good deal about cinematic construction from him.<br /><br />The Mamet film that explores the twisted underworld of confidence rackets most thoroughly is his first, House of Games (1987). It opens with a fictional short con devised by Mamet's gaming tutor, Jay.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5Uqck3pni0" rel="nofollow">House of Games</a><br /><br />(Ricky Jay -- real name Richard Jay Potash -- also appears in Mamet's films The Spanish Prisoner, Homicide, Things Change, State and Main and Heist.)<br /><br />Nin, I hear you -- the awful stacked-deck aspects of the proceedings, like being run over again and again...TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-72658149966226802202013-04-29T17:43:55.702-07:002013-04-29T17:43:55.702-07:00The idea of cheating --
I was on jury duty today, ...The idea of cheating --<br />I was on jury duty today, got seated and then dismissed<br />for asking too many questions . . . <br /><br />It's such an odd world with the powers all on one side, and so obviously so. The deck is always stacked. And I can't not question the situation. Nin Andrewshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12643167108589844026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-21433482697969795642013-04-29T16:06:12.882-07:002013-04-29T16:06:12.882-07:00I was about to say it is all there in the eyes, bu...I was about to say it is all there in the eyes, but Sandra is right, it's about the whole body's language. The painter was so good at telling his story he didn't need to illuminate one particular person, hands, face only, to hint at what is going on right now.<br />The solitary and pensive Magdalene, so beautiful...Marie Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07787850063283960703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-70500575216007276502013-04-29T12:43:06.394-07:002013-04-29T12:43:06.394-07:00gamblers should understand body language...gamblers should understand body language...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-22858168557193687212013-04-29T09:56:34.518-07:002013-04-29T09:56:34.518-07:00Love that smug, menacing look of Jay's.Love that smug, menacing look of Jay's.vazambam (Vassilis Zambaras)https://www.blogger.com/profile/14515165428574974933noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-60314448120076041762013-04-29T09:33:47.333-07:002013-04-29T09:33:47.333-07:00I remember seeing Ricky Jay on British television ...I remember seeing Ricky Jay on British television many years ago now. That silence is something fierce.Mose23https://www.blogger.com/profile/01100756913131511440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-87049518077025361142013-04-29T09:26:49.004-07:002013-04-29T09:26:49.004-07:00The eyes of the third woman along in the La Tour a...The eyes of the third woman along in the La Tour are startling.Mose23https://www.blogger.com/profile/01100756913131511440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-25170055814021002902013-04-29T08:09:24.431-07:002013-04-29T08:09:24.431-07:00Tom,
From house of cards to cardsharps -- those f...Tom,<br /><br />From house of cards to cardsharps -- those four hands in the detail of La Tour's painting, the Courtesan's right with pearls wrapped around wrist, maid with jug in left and triangular glass with wine in right, the "cheater" with 6 of clubs in his right (and look what's hidden in his left) . . . what's shown and what's concealed (move over Ricky Jay). <br /><br />4.29<br /><br />light coming into sky above black plane<br />of ridge, waning white moon by branches<br />in foreground, sound of wave in channel<br /><br /> condition of gravity rather,<br /> there exists in space<br /><br /> comparison with, shows that,<br /> term on the left side<br /><br />blue white of sky reflected in channel,<br />clouds on horizon to the left of point<br /><br />STEPHEN RATCLIFFEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12339481653546188412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-17441442604739012672013-04-29T07:32:48.468-07:002013-04-29T07:32:48.468-07:00In his religious scenes Georges de La Tour reverse...In his religious scenes Georges de La Tour reverses the angle of illumination, directing the viewer's attention away from the complex dynamics of this shady "profane" world of gaming and being gamed, gulling and being gulled, and turning it inward, to the privacy and immanence of <a href="http://tomclarkblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/nux.html" rel="nofollow">solitary figures in candlelight</a>.TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4445844569294316288.post-86976413170062129012013-04-29T07:05:56.308-07:002013-04-29T07:05:56.308-07:00The con springs eternal.
Would you trust this man...The con springs eternal.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWvRorX0KhQ" rel="nofollow">Would you trust this man?</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lOPeGgf9C4" rel="nofollow">"You wanna be a grifter?"</a>TChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05915822857461178942noreply@blogger.com