The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 28, 2024

House of Cards

House of Cards

Date unknown
(French, 1696-aft 1734)
(French, 1699–1779)
Sheet: 42.1 x 57.1 cm (16 9/16 x 22 1/2 in.); Platemark: 27.5 x 31.1 cm (10 13/16 x 12 1/4 in.)
Catalogue raisonné: Inventaire du Fonds, Français 144
Location: not on view

Description

Chardin's (1699-1779) quiet picture of a boy studiously balancing cards is one of several paintings in which he depicted children or adolescents absorbed in thoughtful play or study. The rhyme at the bottom of the print comments on the resemblance between childhood and adult realms: You are wrong to make fun of this adolescent And of his useless amusement Ready at first breeze to capsize We are bored even at the age we should be wise Out of our brains there often blow The most ridiculous châteaus.
  • Inventive Impressions: 18th- and 19-Century French Prints. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 26-October 28, 2001).
    The Cleveland Museum of Art; 8/26/01-10/28/01. "Inventive Impressions: 18th- and 19th-Century French Prints".
  • {{cite web|title=House of Cards|url=false|author=Pierre Filloeuil, Jean-Siméon Chardin|year=null|access-date=28 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1995.265