Marcoussis, born in Warsaw with the name Ludwig Markus, changed his name ca. 1912. Comparison between this seated figure—with a hat, playing dominoes on a green baize table, smoking a cigar—and a similar subject in Picasso’s The Poet exemplifies some technical and visual differences between early and late Cubism: the addition of sand to the pigment, the solid planes and variety of color, and the flat patterns of wood and wallpaper endorse the image’s flat surface, in contrast to the shattered, prismatic atmosphere of The Poet.