The Swing by Jean-Honore Fragonard

Exhibited at The Wallace Collection, London, 1766
credit here

Opinion: I chose this famous Rococo painting because sophomore year one my close friends, Suzanne, re-created a parody of it. In her replica, the girl was actually falling off the swing. Made out of colored pencils, I thought Suzanne’s copy of a masterpiece was absolutely brilliant.

Theory: The Swing was painted by Jean-Honore Fragonard and is largely representative of the Rococo art in France. It has pastel colors,  a frivolous theme, wealthy subjects, is placed outside in nature, and has an abundance of light without contrast. “The glowing pastel colors and soft light convey, almost by themselves, the theme’s sensuality” (Gardner, Page 786). The death of Louis XIV in 1715 marked a movement away from classical Baroque and into Rococo, which ended with the French Revolution. During this period there was a surge for happiness and indulging in pleasures. The Renaissance triangle showing solidity is gone and the triangle between the figures here is to show the lack of cohesiveness of marriage. There are live figures as well as stone figures. The statue on the left is the god of love. He is shushing the two immoral lovers so they do not give themselves away. The two figures below the swing have a helmet to suggest Mars, the god of jealousy, war, and messages. The inclusion of the old and new is characteristic of Rococo- pairing mythological gods with contemporary figures. The main subjects slipper is flying off and contributes to the frivolity of the theme while the dark clouds in the background suggest that people at the time were becoming unhappy with the French aristocracy (Madame Oyler).