Genre
Playful
Play loosens painting’s solemnity. It is the register of the fête galante, the masquerade, the cherub tumbling out of a cloud — pictures that wink rather than preach, where wit and lightness of touch are the whole point and the brush itself seems to be enjoying the joke.
Key artists
Works
The Artist's Studio
The Swing
The Rope Dance
The Meeting
The Cathedrals of Art
The woman conversing with her children, as the leopard returns, egged on by a fox who is tied to his leg, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Thirtieth Night
A Hunting Scene
Untitled
Teasing a Sleeping Girl
After the Hunt
Untitled
The Golden Age
A Masked Ball in Bohemia
The Billiard Room
Untitled
Comical Repast (Banquet of the Starved)
Street Scene in Paris (Coin de rue à Paris)
Village Scene, Grasse
The monkey advises the suspicious lion to cast off fear and take possession of his territory, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-ninth Night
Taking Shelter from the Rain
Sculptors at Work, Tomb of Rekhmire
Nasturtiums with the Painting "Dance" I
Mishap at the Ford
Football Players
Monkeys on a Rock Ledge
The lion returns to his territory and sees the monkey conversing with the lynx, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-ninth Night
Krishna Playing the Flute and other Episodes from the Bhagavata Purana
Base for a Statuette
The Fable of the Miller, His Son, and the Donkey
Facsimile painting from the tomb of Rekhmire
Kabuki Theater
Eight Daoist Immortals
Untitled
The Fable of the Miller, His Son, and the Donkey
The Cathedrals of Fifth Avenue
Watchcase cover: Tisiphone Casting Snakes at Athamas and Ino
Vaudeville Act
Banquet in Silence
Family of Monkeys
Brother Philippe's Geese
The Landing of Columbus
Peaceable Kingdom
Love as Folly
Hand Sewing Machine
Eguchi no Kimi
Setsubun Festival at Sensōji
Fuwa Banzaemon
Syrians Bringing Horses, Tomb of Rekhmire
宋紫山筆 嵐に鶏図|Rooster in a Storm
Nubians with a Giraffe and a Monkey, Tomb of Rekhmire
The Smoker
Oxherding
Shimabara Courtesans Exorcizing Demons
Choosing the Dinner
Masons Squaring a Block, Tomb of Rekhmire
The Cascade
The Fable of the Miller, His Son, and the Donkey
A Man Mounting a Horse
Leaf from a Kalighat album: Krishna Steals the Clothes of the Cowgirls (Gopis) (recto); Das Avataras, Ten Incarnations of Vishnu (verso)
Krishna with Radha and Two Attendants (recto); Jagannath, Subhadra and Balarama in an Arch (verso)
Krishna and Balarama Approaching Mathura
The monkey, serving as the lion’s chamberlain, converses with the lynx and its mate who have arrived with their cubs to settle in the lion’s domain, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-ninth Night
The Vineyard
Krishna Ferrying Radha Across the Yamuna River
Krishna and Balarama Taking the Cattle Out to Graze, from a Bhagavata Purana
Festival of Insects
The Swing
Krishna with Radha and Two Attendants (recto)
Krishna asks for sweets, from a Sursagar of Surdas (Indian, c. 1480–1580)
Krishna Ferrying Radha Across the Yamuna River (recto); Parivati Placing a Wedding Garland on Shiva (verso)
King Muchukunda Enters the Realm of Mount Gandhamadana to Attain Salvation, from the “Fifth Basohli Bhagavata Purana”
Hanshan and Shide (Kanzan and Jittoku)
Krishna and the Cowherds Dive into the River, from a Rasikapriya
King Bana enjoying music in his court, from the Usha-Aniruddha section of a Krishna Lila
Ansichten aus den vier Weltteilen mit Szenen von Tieren: Peking
FIBRE
Dish (piatto): Man Washing the Mouth of an Ass
Lovers
Tomcat's Turf
Reaching Waves
Study for "Goat"
Strange Garden
Provisions from Nubia Stored in the Temple, Tomb of Rekhmire
Brickmakers Getting Water from a Pool, Tomb of Rekhmire
The Street Pavers
Storing up Manna
Roundel with Three Apes Building a Trestle Table
Classical Grotesque
Samson (Bairds Carryout)
A Man Riding a Horse
Cup and Cover Supported by an Enchained Turk
Putti Harvesting Wheat
Untitled
Airs and graces
In Memory of an All-Girl Band
Silver Ball, Barge, and Trees
Hunting Scene with a Pond
The Neigh of an Iron Horse
Study of Butterfly and Insects
Auvers (Washerwomen)
Bare Knuckles
Singerie: The Concert
Singerie: The Painter
Hot Springs at Abano
Insects and a Sprig of Rosemary
The Hobby Horse
Fantômas
Farmyard Fowls
Misse and Luttine
Slate, Pipe, Tobacco, and Box of Matches
Antelope Shooting - Assinneboine
Rest
Singerie: The Picnic
Don Lorenzo Bellavita, famoza dentista
The Bivouac
Hunting with a decoy
Don Quixote Dubbed a Knight
Ebisu
Maharana Jagat Singh II Hunting
Todi Ragini, from a Ragamala Series
The deceitful wife returns to her terrace after caressing her lover, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighth Night
Tiger Family
The Elephant of Maharana Jai Singh of Mewar (r. 1680–98) Catches a Horse by the Tail
Sake Party with No Light
The prince meets a carefree dancing dervish whose good fortune he purchases for his ring, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Eighteenth Night
Hermes and the Infant Dionysus
Umed Singh of Kota Hunting Lions
The court jester meets a Zangi dancing with joy, and learns from him that the cause of his happiness is his assignation with a woman who is the jester’s own wife, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-second Night
The Fourth King of Hell
Children at Play
Draupadi Rescued from Abduction, from a Mahabharata
Ragini Desakh of Meghamalhar
Music and Dance
Sunday Afternoon in the Country
The dervish brings the King of Kings before the king of Bahilistan, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Seventh Night
Desk Album: Flower and Bird Paintings (Gossiping Sparrows)
The dervish brings in as dowry an elephant laden with gold, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Seventh Night
Tradition
Horses and Grooms in the Stable
The Brahman comes upon a lion who has a deer and a gazelle as his viziers, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-first Night
Smoker
The two cooks, who attempt to seduce the warrior’s loyal wife, are trapped by her in a cellar, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fourth Night
A Hundred Birds and the Three Friends
Tiger Family
Kalighat Painting
Puppies, Sparrows, and Chrysanthemums
Two Putti
A marbled picture of Rustam catching Rakhsh
The merchant’s daughter encounters a wolf and bandits on her way to meet the gardener in order to keep her promise, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twelfth Night
Three suitors fight amongst themselves for the hand of the devotee’s daughter, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twentieth Night
The wolf and the jackal, serving as viziers, instigate the lion who pursues the Brahman up a tree, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Twenty-first Night
The Saltmaker's Story
Dushyanta watching his son Bharat playing with the tiger at the end of the Abhijnanashakuntalam (verso), from a Kalighat album
Puppies, Sparrows, and Chrysanthemums
Tigers and Leopard Frolicking
Monkeys in a Cherry Tree; Monkeys on a Rock Ledge
The vagabond crosses a stream with the possessions of the daughter-in-law of the king of Banaras and absconds, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Sixteenth Night
The Peaceable Kingdom
Raja Ram Chand of Amber (r. 1667–88) Hunting Wild Boar
Monkeys in a Cherry Tree
Swinging Gibbon
Maharana Sangram Singh II of Mewar (r. 1710–34) and Stages a Boar Hunt with Tigers at Sadri
Puppies, Sparrows, and Chrysanthemums
A Family of Tartars
The Emir slays the snake after giving it shelter, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-fifth Night
Hotei
The gardener seizes and beats a donkey who insisted on braying, while the deer, its companion flees to safety, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-first Night
The merchant of Tirmiz takes the wise parrot and myna to ‘Ubaid, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Forty-second Night
The hunter throws away the baby parrots, who pretend to be dead, and captures the mother, from a Tuti-nama (Tales of a Parrot): Fifth Night
The Story of Fukutomi
Gathering of Otsu-e Subjects
Fort George Island, Florida
Woman Feeding Deer: Todi Ragini, from a Ragamala
Monkeys
Arrival of the "Southern Barbarians"
Ink Plum
Wild Geese and Reeds
Demon Intoning the Name of the Buddha
Page from Tales of a Parrot (Tuti-nama): text page
Dog Walker
Vabhruvahana Approaches Arjuna, page from the Khan Khanan's Razm-nama
One Hundred Children at Play
Monkey Trick
Monkeys smoking and drinking
View of Nyhavn
Untitled
Composite Camel with Attendant
Dancer = Propeller = Sea
Boy’s Day Carp Streamer and Shōki Banner
Aegean Islanders in the Tomb of Rekhmire
Mynah Birds
The Phoenix
Two Fragments of Ceiling Patterns, Tomb of Senenmut
Laila and Majnun
An Englishman at Mabille
Taste in High Life
Copy of Night Parade of One Hundred Demons from the Shinjuan Collection
Goat
Ventriloquist and Crier in the Moor
Rats on a Scholar’s Desk
Frequently asked questions
What is Playful?
Playful is a mood in painting. Play loosens painting’s solemnity.
How many Playful works does Artifact World Gallery have?
Artifact World Gallery holds 7,543 public-domain Playful works, all free to view and download.
Who are the key Playful artists?
Key Playful artists in the collection include Gustave Courbet, Jean Honoré Fragonard and François Boucher.