Three-Card Monte

Three-Card Monte

24 x 30 inches, oil on linen, 2026

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The narrative of this new painting centers on a classic confidence game known as Three-Card Monte, designed to deceive players into believing they have a fair chance of winning. Three cards are shuffled, two alike and one different, and the player bets money on identifying the unique card.  However, the outcome is predetermined. The player rarely wins, and money is inevitably lost.

The game is often played in public parks, and dealers work with an accomplice who appears to win repeatedly, enticing bystanders to try their luck. 

On an abstract level the arc formed by the three primary colors, the yellow, red, and blue hats, frames the composition and contrasts with the cool blues and greens that flow from the player, ultimately to the woman on the right. This movement of color reinforces both the visual structure of the painting and the narrative tension at its center.

Variations of color within the clothing, particularly the striped garments, help create direction and visual interest.

The hands also play a critical role in both the visual and narrative structure of the painting, guiding the viewer's eye through the composition while echoing the misdirection at the heart of Three-Card Monte.

The final composition evolved through several studies and revisions before the painting stage began.

drawing #1, initial work study

2 - 4 May 2026
11 x 14 inches, pencil and colored pencil on paper

The initial drawing used one-point perspective with all lines converging on a single vanishing point. The three cards were placed exactly on the center line. Once work started on the painting, I shifted the cards slightly off center to the right to create a more dynamic composition. I also relocated the man's hand on the table to a better angle, pointing directly to the cards and the woman.

The next and final drawing was used to transfer the image to the linen canvas.

Drawing #2, final drawing
6 May 2026
24 x 30 inches, pencil on paper with green oxide pastel tone on reverse
 

The Conjurer

Hieronymus Bosch and workshop
ca. 1502, oil on wood, 21 x 26 inches
Musée Municipal, St.-Germain-en-Laye, France

The theme of confidence games has often appeared in paintings, and The Conjurer by Hieronymus Bosch is among my favorites. The coupling of an almost cartoonish scene with a pointed warning about deception and gullibility amuses me. On an abstract level, the composition feels surprisingly modern for its period: a dense cluster of spectators is balanced by the isolated figure of the dealer, while a series of circular forms around the tabletop, echoed by the hoop near the dog in the foreground, subtly guides the eye through the painting.

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The Dream of Saint Ursula

A few days ago, a friend visiting Venice sent me a photo of The Dream of Saint Ursula (Il Sogno della Santa), one of the nine paintings from Vittore Carpaccio's Cycle of Saint Ursula that are exhibited together in the Gallerie dell'Accademia. There is no definitive version of the legend, but the basic story is that Ursula, a devout young Christian woman is martyred after refusing to marry a pagan prince. This painting is the sixth in the cycle ... about Ursula's dream of being visited by an angel foretelling her martyrdom:

The Dream of Saint Ursula
1496-1498, oil on canvas, 107 x 105 inches
Vittore Carpaccio (ca. 1465 - ca. 1525)
Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice

The photo brought back memories of seeing the painting in person many years ago and being captivated by the unusual composition and the way multiple "boxes" (such as the shape of Ursula's bed ... photo below) form an interlocking abstract structure. Carpaccio is rarely if ever mentioned as an influence on my work, but I've always admired his inventiveness, his mastery of color, and the complexity of his compositions. While far from unknown, I think he's a very under-rated artist.

A few of the many "boxes" in the structure

See more of my work at my website: Andrew Stevovich

Woman with Dog, in progress

 

Woman with Dog, in progress

oil on linen, 18 x 14 inches

Sometimes a painting asserts its own direction, as if it knows what it needs independent of my intentions. The chair refused every solution I offered, shifting from a simple seat to a couch extending to the right edge of the canvas. When the chair finally settled into a size and place that felt right, it began to reject the red color I envisioned. I tried one red after another, yet none took hold. Only when I mixed a green did the chair immediately look right, as though the painting had been guiding me there from the start.

Meanwhile, the window remains to be resolved. My plan now is to add a house whose roofline slant will echo the angle of the figure’s leg and guide the viewer’s eye back into the image. Below is a quick ink study over a photo showing how the scene will be composed.

ink and color pencil over a photo

Woman with Dog will appear in my upcoming solo exhibition at Adelson Galleries in New York, opening November 6.

Margo's Tiger

Margo's Tiger

2025, oil on linen canvas, 16 x 16 inches

There were two significant changes between the final drawing below and the finished painting: the woman's hands were repositioned, and the image of the second tiger was replaced with a brush and small bowl of paint.

Margo's Tiger, drawing #7

2025, pencil on paper with red oxide pastel tone on reverse, 16 x 16 inches

The lower tiger detracted from the importance of the tiger being shown to the man, while the angle of the brush added a counterpoint to the movement of the hands and the watercolor, balancing the composition.

Margo's Tiger, in progress

Margo's Tiger, in progress

16 x 16 inches, oil on linen

This composition has been on my mind for many years, with initial sketches dating to 2013. 

The narrative relates to a memory from an afternoon when I was fifteen, and a classmate showed me her watercolor of a tiger. 

The composition explores the structure of two stacked triangles - one above the other. The upper frames the faces; the lower frames the tiger.

There are seven drawings related to the composition ... three of them below: 

drawings #1 and #2 initial sketches

left: blue ink on paper, 3 1/2 x 4 inches, 2013

right: black ink on paper, 3 x 4 inches, 2013

Margo's Tiger, drawing #7

pencil on paper with red oxide pastel tone on reverse, 16 x 16 inches, 2025

final drawing, used to transfer the image to linen

Playing Diamonds

Playing Diamonds

2023-2024, oil on linen,19 x 19 inches

The theme of card games has been a recurring narrative in my work for many years. I enjoy the subject and the psychological elements it offers, but - more important to me - on the abstract level the theme also provides many compositional opportunities such as in the arrangement of hands or the play of color notes in the cards.

Here are two of my large paintings that were composed around the narrative of gamblers playing blackjack: 

Twenty-One
1983 - 1984, oil on line, 32 x 70 inches
Private collection

and twenty-eight years later:

Blackjack Players

2012, oil on line, 28 x 42 inches

courtesy of Adelson Galleries

Playing Diamonds, drawing #3

pencil on graph paper with red oxide pastel tone on reverse

10 x 10 inches, 2010

In other news, I will be having a solo exhibition of paintings at the Clark Gallery in Lincoln, Massachusetts: 30 April to 8 June.

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For additional information please contact me or the the Adelson Gallery [New York and Palm Beach]:

mailbox@andrewstevovich.com     or      adam@adelsongalleries.com

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Snack

Laura and I have a black dog, part Lab, part Chow, and part other mutts. A recent article I read characterized black Labs as having "innate food greed" ... and ours could be the poster dog for that description. There's the narrative of this painting.

Snack

2023, oil on linen, 21" x 21"

The color harmony is a range of blue tones and green and black against a warm background. The two reds - the snack and the interior of the dog's mouth - add energy to the overall tone of the painting. Geometrically, the composition is anchored with triangles and diagonal movements balanced by the rectangle of the man in the window.

The man at the window may be a subconscious homage to Fra Filippo Lippi, one of my favoite artists working in 15th century Florence, and his painting, Portrait of a Woman with a Man at a Casement. The work is thought to have been painted for the wedding of Lorenzo di Ranieri Scolari and Angiola di Bernardo Sapiti, and it is believed to be the first double portrait made in the Italian Renaissance. Angiola is seen in profile, a point of view that Lippi was one of the first artists to use; these profiles have been a significant influence on my images of single individuals.

Portrait of a Woman with a Man at a Casement
Fra Filippo Lippi
1435/1440, tempera on panel, 2' 1" x 1' 4"
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

clockwise from upper left corner:

Woman Wearing a Red Hat: 2014, oil on linen, 16" x 10"

Mollie: 2008, oil on linen, 5.75" x 3.5" [Private collection]

Olga: 2020, oil on linen, 7.5" x 6"

Cherie Likes Yellow: 2009, oil on linen, 4.5" x 3"

Lola Likes Red:2016, oil on linen, 8" x 5.75"

Marko: 2013, oil on linen, 6.25" x 4.5" [Private collection]

 ___________________________

For additional information please contact me or the Adelson Gallery [New York and Palm Beach]:

mailbox@andrewstevovich.com     or      adam@adelsongalleries.com

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Two New Paintings

Finished in early December, Cosmetic Ads:  

Cosmetic Ads

2022, oil on linen, 24" x 24"

I was originally thinking of painting the walls with tones of yellow ochre. After finishing the clothes of the two main figures, however, I decided to go with blue. For one, the small areas of yellow ochre would have created a disturbance in the overall unity of the composition. And I've always liked working with harmonies of closely related colors. Aside from the skin tones, the only deviations from blues and greys are the green beret and the red lipstick which bring visual energy and tension.

The next painting, finished a couple days ago, continues with my enjoyment of closely related colors ... reds in this case ... with a green t-shirt serving as a counterpoint.

Handsome Demon

2023, oil on linen, 7" x 5 1/2"

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Cosmetic Ads, in progress

 On the easel:

Cosmetic Ads [in progress]

oil on linen, 24" x 24"

The initial drawing for this composition was done several years ago and floated around the studio until this past August. Why some ideas take much longer than others to coalesce has no obvious explanation but when I looked at the drawing again this summer, the time was finally right. The new drawing below was made:

Cosmetic Ads, drawing #2

2022, pencil on paper with red oxide pastel tone on reverse, 24" x 24"

Unlike my usual process of making numerous preparatory drawings, it was used to transfer the image to canvas. Perhaps a mistake to be so quick. The woman's face on the left, her hair and beret, were the first parts painted. After that I became uneasy with the composition. The right and left halves did not integrate. After several days of contemplation, it became evident that a second woman, overlapping the advertisement was needed. She unites the halves and creates a better visual flow.

Cosmetic Ads drawing #4

2022, pencil on paper with red oxide pastel tone partially on reverse, 8" x 12 1/2"

Cosmetic Ads [detail, in progress]

oil on linen, approx. 11" x 12"

As the painting developed, two more faces - also advertisements - were added in the far background.

Cosmetic Ads [detail, in progress]

oil on linen, approx. 12" x 24"

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New York Exhibition

15 September - 31 October 2022

Adelson Galleries, New York
595 Madison Avenue

opening reception:
Thursday,  29 September
6 to 8 PM

click here to view the exhibition catalog

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Five Chocolate Truffles

Recently finished:

Five Chocolate Truffles

2022, oil on linen, 10" x 12"

This painting, along with twenty-one other oil paintings and four drawings, will be shown in my upcoming solo exhibition at the Adelson Galleries in New York, from September 15th through October 31st. A reception will take place on Thursday, the 29th of September.

Here is a painting and a drawings that will be in the exhibition:

Two Women with a Monkey

2018, oil on linen, 18 x 20 inches

Two Women with a Monkey, drawing #2

2017, pencil on paper with red oxide tone on reverse, 18 x 20 inches

 

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Lula Polishing a Sculpture

 Recently finished:

Lula Polishing a Sculpture

2022, oil on linen, 15" x 10"

A painting now on the easel:

Five Chocolate Truffles   [in progress]

oil on linen, 10" x 12"

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