La salle de jeu

Jean Béraud's 'La salle de jeu' (The Gaming Room, 1889) depicts another of the exclusive social spaces he documented with such precision — the gambling salon, whether at a private club or one of the regulated gaming establishments that served upper-class Parisian society. Gaming was a significant feature of Belle Époque social life for both men and women of the upper classes, and the gaming room as social space — its particular combination of concentrated attention, social interaction, and financial risk — provided Béraud with characteristic opportunities for social observation.

The gaming room's artificial light — typically gas or electric, even during daylight hours — creates a distinctive visual environment quite different from Béraud's outdoor subjects. His handling of the concentrated faces around the gaming table, the particular quality of attention that gambling demands, and the social performance of win and loss provides rich material for his observational portrait skills. The interior's furnishings establish the social register of the establishment.