Children's Games (Jeux des Enfants)
Medium
Etching and engraving
Dimensions
Sheet: 17 1/8 × 19 9/16 in. (43.5 × 49.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Richard Barsam, in memory of Edgar Munhall, 2018
Accession Number
2018.590.3
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the whimsical spirit of 18th-century Rococo art, *Children's Games (Jeux des Enfants (1731) brings to life the innocent delights of youth. Created as an etching and engraving by printmaker Bernard Lepicié designs by painter Charles Antoine Coypel—a figure in the opulent, playful Rococo movement—this large-scale print (sheet: 17 1/8 × 19 9/16 in., or 43.5 × 49.7 cm) depicts boys and girls immersed in games, including dressing up, evoking the era's fascination with everyday joys and childhood reverie. Etching and engraving techniques allowed for intricate details and wide distribution, making high-art scenes accessible beyond elite salons. Coypel's lively compositions, rendered with Lepicié's precise line work, highlight fluid forms and expressive gestures typical of Rococo, blending realism with charm to celebrate leisure and imagination amid France's Ancien Régime. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (gift of Richard Barsam, in memory of Edgar Munhall, 2018), this print offers a window into 1730s cultural values, where children's play mirrored adult fantasies of freedom and delight. A timeless reminder of universal childhood magic!
About the Artist
Bernard Lepicié|Charles Antoine Coypel (French|French|French) · 1699 |1698 |1698 –1779 |1755 |1755
French, Paris 1699–1779 Paris|French, Paris 1698–1755 Paris|French, Paris 1698–1755 Paris