Art and gambling have a long and rich history, which actually predates even the first prototypes of the modern casino. Painters have depicted people playing cards, artists have sold collections (or donated their proceeds) to casinos and the games and architecture of the establishments have been influenced by the arts as much as the other way around.

From 16th century card sharps to 21st century online slot games with an artistic eye, via the high-end art collections of Las Vegas and the collision of art, money and risk as a status symbol - this is a brief overview of the history of art and gambling.

Gambling and Art Go Way Back, from Caravaggio to Cézanne and Duchamp

One of the earliest paintings of gamblers to achieve serious recognition in the art world was The Cardsharps by Caravaggio, painted circa 1595. This painting is not only a sublime capture of the human form, but also marked a milestone in the young Caravaggio's early career as an independent artist.

The painting mixed what was considered a low subject at the time (common people playing cards, including one player cheating) with the delicate touch of the Venetian masters. It gathered him much acclaim in the art world of the time, and produced dozens of paintings inspired by or imitating it in the decades following. It currently resides in the Kimble Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas.

It was some 300 years after Caravaggio's time that a truly important painter in the history of art tackled the subject of gambling in a widely renowned piece. Namely, Paul Cézanne's The Card Players.

The French impressionist produced five paintings of card players between 1890 and 1896 and they are often considered among his most important and iconic works. The Card Players series focuses on the serious tension and concentration of a gambling game like poker, over the excitement and narrative focus of most works depicting gambling.

In the modern day, few artists have exemplified this more than Marcel Duchamp. The archetypal French conceptual artist was also a keen roulette player. In 1924 he wanted to raise money to play higher stakes at roulette in Monte Carlo, Monaco, so he made a roulette-inspired artwork with the explicit and open purpose of selling it to bankroll his gambling.

He called it Monte Carlo Bond, although apparently it is better remembered than it succeeded at the time. The Museum of Modern Art says only eight of the planned 30 bonds were sold at 500 Francs a piece - or around $57,000 each in today's money.

Slot Games as Art - Are They Art Yet?

If you browse the selection of casino games at a popular online casino today, you're not likely to see anything of outstanding artistic merit. However, top casinos have literally thousands of slot games, as well as the casino classics and live casino game shows, so there's a lot to look through.

As it goes, over the years there have been some relatively artistic slot games that have tried to do something different with the classic formula. While none can lay claim to be as artistic as the most aesthetically pleasing video games, there have certainly been some thoughtfully designed slots on a visual level in recent years.

Some examples include Jammin' Jars and Reactoonz, which are often praised for their art styles and animations - although you wouldn't exactly call it fine art.

Other slot games just straight up take advantage of expired copyright law and wholesale make slots based on famous artists that use their work as symbols. The most famous is Da Vinci Diamonds by IGT, which was a very popular slot at casino floors in the 2000s. Otherwise High 5 Games did several online slots in this style in the early 2010s including Michelangelo, Renoir Riches and a Van Gogh slot, and more recently NetEnt released a slot based on Edvard Munch's The Scream.

Art as a Status Symbol for Luxury High-Limit Gamblers

If there's anywhere that emphasises the purely monetary connection between the world of fine art and gambling it is Las Vegas. Where else in the world could you stay in a five-star hotel suite designed by none other than modern art legend Damien Hirst?

Because you can do that at Palms Las Vegas. The casino resort also has an extensive collection of fine art by other modern artists including Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

For a long time the MGM Resorts International fine art collection was one of the best in the world, but a lot of it has been sold off since 2020. At one time it included a fine dining restaurant at the Bellagio themed around Picasso paintings, with half a dozen of them lining the walls of the upscale eatery.

Casinos use fine art as an extension of their design ethos, because as well as being something to look at while you wait for a drink, they are symbols of spectacle, luxury, status and conspicuous consumption. When a patron visits a high end Las Vegas casino, they are buying into that world for an evening as much as they are putting $50 down on a blackjack table - and high art on the walls has long been a part of that fantasy.