The Swing By Fregonard

Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Swing, 1767, oil on canvas, Wallace Collection, London. The exuberance of The Swing has come to epitomize Rococo painting. It depicts a fashionably dressed lady revealing her charms to her lover, carefully positioned in a bed of roses; the lady's husband is an unwitting accomplice to this act of amorous intrigue.

Jean-Honore Fragonard (April 05, 1732-August 22,1806) was a French painter and printmaker of high repute. His creative 'Rococo' style was elaborate and cheerful, with 'Genre Paintings' being his forte. Fragonard created over 550 paintings, exclusive of the countless drawings and etchings. Out of this huge lot, only five artworks are dated. Jean Fragonard's most famous painting "The Swing" or "the Happy Accidents of the Swing (French: Les HasardsHeureux de l'Escarpolette)" (1769) is by far one of the best 'Rococo' works globally.

Measuring 81 cm x 64.2 cm, Jean's "The Swing" is colorful, attractive, oil on canvass painting, brimming with verve. It shows a young woman wearing a candy colored, flowing dress, a touch of fashion completed by a hat. She is enjoying high swings in a garden, with a Bishop, probably her lover, pushing the swinghanging from a large, thick tree. A young man, hidden behind the bushes, is watching the woman. As she goes high on the swing, the backwards reclined man is able to get a sneaky peep up her legs, under the dress, 'Symbolizing' the loss of virginity. Themed on carefree enthusiasm, Jean Honore's "The Swing" shows the woman carelessly letting off one of her shoes in the air. The statues around seemto acknowledging the scene with a sculptural silence.

According to Charles Colle's autobiography, a young man first asked Gabriel Francois Doyen to make this painting of him and his mistress. Not comfortable with the idea of this casually, perky work, Francois Doyen recommended Jean-Honore for it. "The Swing" was an instant success. It is believed that Jean made several versions of "The Swing,"each unique in its own right though. Grimaldi and Labeyrie Collection gave a smaller version, sized 56 × 46 cm, to the Musee Lambinet in the city of Versailles, where "The Swing" is presently displayed. Virgile Josz has mentioned about the following three replicas of "The Swing" in his book 'Fragonard: moeurs du XVIIIe siecle,' written in 1901. Baron Bollioud de Saint-Julien owned the originalpainting, which was sold to the Duke of Morny, when the baron died in 1788. Sir Richard Wallace then bought it and presently "The Swing" by Jean Fragonard is a part of the 'Wallace Collection,' London, United Kingdom. Another version of "The Swing" is slightly different, with the woman's dress being blue, instead of the original candy. Edmond James de Rothschild owns it. Duc Jules de Polignac owns aneven smaller version of "The Swing."

Undoubtedly, Jean-Honore Fragonard stands as a prominent figure in the world of 'Rococo Paintings,' with artworks like "The Swing" vouching for it. He has truly passed a legacy of creative innovation to inspire several generations of existing as well as future artists.

Jean-Honore Fragonard was a fashionable French artist who produced over 550 paintingswithin his 74 year life span. A remarkable aspect concerning Fragonard’s artistic practices was that he rarely dated his work. Of the hundreds of paintings which he created there has been only five discovered which bears a date on them.

His usual manner of painting confers an atmosphere of intimacy, generally as if we are viewing scenes from someone’s life which we really have not right to seewhich has led to some art circles as introducing him as a purveyor of eroticism. It has been mentioned that most of Fragonard’s background scenes are reminiscent of the romantic gardens that he so enjoyed during his frequent visits to Rome. Upon his canvas we can view many gardens complete with fountains, terraces and temples. During the mid 1700s he married and was gifted with a daughter who...