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Checkers Artist Victor Marais-Milton

• Late in the 19th century, France saw a revival in anecdotal genre painting with themes and imagery that were steeped in the established norms of the 19th century and followed the contemporary political, social and cultural trends.
  
  
• Since the French Revolution there had been an increase in religious images because of a growing anti-clericalism and the current trend as the 20th century approached was to mock the institution and its representatives so that modern artists had the opportunity to create satirical images of clerics.
  
  
• Victor’s motifs generally featured humorous depictions of his clerical subjects or common Parisian leisure scenes in his oil paintings.
  
  
• Marais-Milton’s church genre scenes were full of subtle social commentary made with a touch of humour as he used irony to point a finger at the role and function of the church at the time.
  
  
• He depicted the Bishops, Prelates and Cardinals in vivid and wonderfully picturesque scarlet robes and portrayed the figures in recreational settings, idling their time away while playing musical instruments and singing or socializing over parlour games and conversation.
  
  
• Since his humorous commentary was so subtle and tasteful, he did not offend the clergy and actually won various prizes for his creative themes and colourful settings.
  
  
• Victor also displayed a meticulous sense of detail in the representation of the typical cultural scene in France and the constructed veracity allowed the viewer to engage in the activity or to identify with the moment it displayed.
  
  
• ‘A Game of Patience’ depicted an upper class couple immersed in a leisurely checkers game in their parlour and the scene was developed with a meticulous sense of detail that imbued the couple with qualities of reality that showed the particular time period.
  
  
• The motif displayed the relaxed atmosphere between the couple in a simple setting, effused in rich colour and harmony within the composition and represented the casual posture at the checkerboard as a past time popular with the upper class.
  
  
• Marais-Milton was a member of the Salon of French Artists where he actively exhibited his work from 1892; he also exhibited his artwork in Paris, Monte Carlo, Anvers, London, Germany and the U.S.

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