The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 19, 2025
House of Cards
c. 1737
(French, 1696–after 1734)
after Jean-Siméon Chardin
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.)
John L. Severance Fund 1995.265
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=c. 1737|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1995.265