Soldiers Playing Cards (1849)

Jan August Hendrik Leys is the artist behind "Soldiers Playing Cards", dated 1849. About the period around 1849: The invention of lithography around 1796 and its spread in these decades made printed images cheaper and more varied. The first half of the nineteenth century moved from Neoclassicism to Romanticism, which placed emotion, nature, and the sublime at the centre of painting. It is listed in the Figurative collection. The image is in landscape orientation. Figurative in brief: Figurative art depicts people and recognisable scenes, and it has been central to European painting since antiquity. Over the centuries, painters have used the figure to express social standing, narrative, and emotion.

Buying "Soldiers Playing Cards" means getting a digital file, not a physical print: Digital JPEG + PDF files, 300 DPI, delivered by email once payment is confirmed. A 300 DPI file is intended for printing at home or at a local print shop, where you can choose a matte, satin, or fine-art paper to suit the room. A landscape format suits wide, low wall spaces such as the stretch above a bed, mantel, or sideboard. A simple frame with a mat often helps an image settle comfortably into a room. Choosing a standard frame size and printing to fit it often saves the cost of custom framing. Screens and printers render colour differently, so a small test print is a sensible way to check tones before committing to a large size. Matte and fine-art papers reduce glare in bright rooms, while glossy papers give stronger contrast and deeper blacks.

Belgian, 1815–1869

If you like the visual language of Jan August Hendrik Leys, explore more works by the same artist in our collection.