The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 25, 2025
The Pranksters (Les Espiègles)
c. 1798
(French, 1753–1820)
after Frédéric Schall
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.)
Catalogue raisonné: Portalis & Béraldi 3; Model/Springer p. 50, plate 20.
Location: Not on view
Description
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.- "Exhibitions." Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 56, no. 4 (July/August 2016): 4. Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 4 archive.org
- Elegance and Intrigue: French Society in 18th-century Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 16-November 6, 2016).
- {{cite web|title=The Pranksters (Les Espiègles)|url=false|author=Charles-Melchior Descourtis, Frédéric Schall|year=c. 1798|access-date=25 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2015.150