The Pranksters (Les Espiègles)
Charles-Melchior Descourtis · c. 1798 · Cleveland Museum of Art
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This meticulously crafted color print reproduces an oil painting by Jean-Frédéric Schall, an artist best known for his pastoral and mildly erotic scenes.During the French Revolution (1789–99), the market for deluxe color prints declined, as titillating subjects and signs of luxury were considered immoral. When attitudes relaxed around 1800, printmakers like Descourtis made a few color prints using multiple plates to layer tinted inks as they had before the Revolution. However, this time-consuming and expensive process was soon replaced by hand coloring that workers could more cheaply and easily accomplish.
The museum’s own description, in English. Licence: CC0
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Details
- Maker
- Charles-Melchior Descourtis (French, 1753–1820), after Frédéric Schall (French, 1752–1825)
- Date
- c. 1798
- Medium
- Wash manner etching and engraving printed in blue, red, yellow, and black
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 57 x 45 cm (22 7/16 x 17 11/16 in.); to borderline: 46.4 x 37.4 cm (18 1/4 x 14 3/4 in.)
- Place of origin
- France
- Held by
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · Not on view
- Credit line
- Gift of the Print Club of Cleveland in honor of the museum's one-hundredth anniversary
Image: Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0
