Ace of Hearts

© Delaware Art Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Not for reproduction or publica…
© Delaware Art Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Ace of Hearts
© Delaware Art Museum / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Not for reproduction or publication.

Ace of Hearts

Datec. 1910
Artist (American painter, etcher, and illustrator, 1871–1951)
MediumInk wash, colored ink, and graphite on paper
Dimensionssheet: 10 7/16 × 7 15/16 in. (26.5 × 20.2 cm)
Credit LineGift of Helen Farr Sloan, 2000
Object number2000-740a
On View
Not on view
ClassificationsDRAWING
Label TextIn his diary, Sloan noted that a publisher from the American edition of the Strand Magazine asked him to "draw a design (humorous) about a playing card." This likely refers to what is called a "transformation card"--when an artist takes the traditional pips (hearts, diamonds, etc.) of a card and builds an imaginative design around it. In December of 1910, the English edition of the Strand Magazine published an article "Playing-Card 'Squiggles'" about this practice, and they later published examples sent in by readers and artists.