GKA 1023 ART HISTORY

ASSIGNMENT 2

TITLE: THE SWING (1767) BY FRAGONARD

PENSYARAH: ENCIK BADROLHISHAM BIN MOHAMAD TAHIR

NAMA PENUH NO MATRIK

1. KHAIRULAMIRIN BIN ALLEMRAN 75289
2. ERMISHYAH BINTI BADAL 74728
3. NIK DALILI DINA KARMILA NABILAH BINTI NABLAN 76037
4. NURULRASKIN BINTI ROSLI 76514
5. NUR ZARITH ZARIFAH BINTI ZAINUDIN 77640
6. DIDI LIANTI YOUNAIM 74610
7. PUTERI ALIAH FARHANI BINTI SHUHAIMI 76586
8. DAYANG ASRAFANNI 74555
9. SHARIFAH NURMUNIRAH BINTI WAN SAPIAN 76731
10. NURUL ATIQAH JAINAL 76438
11. SITI NUR AINI BINTI SOLAMUN 76832
 ASSIGNMENT 2

THE SWING BY FRAGONARD

FIGURE 1: Jean-Honoré Fragonard – The Swing (1767), Oil, The Wallace Collection
KEYWORD
- A girl on a swing pushed by a husband while a lover looked from the bushes and a shoe flew from the foot,
was dictated to the painter by the Baron de Saint-Julien; Fragonard transforms the scene from a licentious
allegory into a commentary on the transience of pleasure through the specifics of his composition.
- Composition depicting the mistress of the Baron de Saint-Julien.
- Her beauty is made more valuable by its imminent loss; she is momentarily illuminated but will fall away from
the light as her arc reverses.
- Menacing Cupid, a sculpture that carried its own complicated history and set of associations, adds a serious
note to the composition, with the permanence of marble serving as a reminder that time can be cruel with
regard to love; the sensual pleasure celebrated in the painting is, like the climax of a moving swing,
momentary and unsustainable.
- She is pushed by a smiling man, who does not realise another man is amongst the shrubs, looking up her
skirt.
- The best works by Fragonard.
- The garden, a space outside the artificial rules of society, was associated with freedom and the natural,
heightening this thematic depth whilst allowing Fragonard to create drama through contrasts in light and the
shade. (The Art History, 2020).
- The girl's outstretched foot, from which a slipper flies, points at the most prominent sculpture, recognizable
to viewers as Etienne - Mourice Falconet’s Menacing Cupid.
- The scene is set against an unruly forest crowded with statuary alongside people and plants.
- The Swing is composed to direct the eye in such a way that the narrative is revealed gradually, following the
motion of the swing from husband to lover, and framed as if a scene in a play, encouraging viewers to take
pleasure in their intrusion into a private moment, approaching it as if it is performed for them.
- The swing, in the 18th century, was generally read as a sexual metaphor, due to the rhythm of movement
and the positioning of the body, with extended legs, at the moment when the swing's arc reached its climax;
the loss of a shoe often symbolized the loss of innocence. 
- The young woman on the swing appears as if a flower, her skirts like petals, echoing in color and texture
those in the shrubbery below, suggesting that she, like a bloom, will fade after being plucked.
- This painting is about the young girl appears on a swing and wearing a pink dress.

ADD ON FRAGONARD
- Best known for his flourishly hedonistic scenes, Jean Honoré Fragonard was a French Rococo painter and
print maker, who was one of the most prolific painters of the Ancién Regime. (WikiArt, 2011).
- Fragonard was a product of the later stages of the Rococo era, a time characterized by hedonistic freedom
and a pursuit of all things aesthetically pleasing. The Rococo era, originated from the French decorative
style Racaille, meaning ‘decorative shell and rock work’’. (Artble, 2020).
- Jean-Honoré Fragonard was born into a family of artisans and merchants in Grasse; his father was a glove
maker. The family moved to Paris in 1738, when Fragonard was six, but little else is known about the artist's
upbringing. He began to study art as a teenager after a failed apprenticeship to a notary. (The Art History,
2020).
DESCRIPTION
- Movement (Rococo Art)
- Genre (Genre Painting)
- Medium (Oil Painting at Canvas)
- Location (Wallace collection, London)
(Art Encyclopedia, 2007).

BACKGROUND FRAGONARD
- Jean-Honore Nicolas Fragonard
- Born 5 April 1732, Grasse, France
- Died 22 August, 1806, Paris, France
- Art institution; Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Paris, France
- Art movement (Rococo)
- Nationally, France
- Active year (1750-1799)
(WikiArt, 2011).

BACKGROUND ROCOCO
- Rococo art places more emphasis on imagination than truth, light and colour are more important than form
- The original French Rococo term ‘Rocaille’ and ‘Coquille’ used stones and shells used to decorate the interior of
caves arising in Baroque-themed gardens
- These themes are also decorated with beautiful paintings, peaceful atmosphere, full of fantasy and its own
elegance. (Nur Arieffa Azrean, 2017).
ANALYSIS THE SWING 1767

Story / Themes
Commissioned by: Notorious French Libetine Baron de St Julien.
 Commissioned by member of the French Royal Court.
 For member of the aristocracy.
 Formal painting.
 Meant to be playful, erotic, sexually-charged (bit naughty).
 Turn down by Doyen (who more serious in historical subject).
Portrait: his mistress
“I should like you to point Madame seated on a swing being pushed by a bishop”.
Background
Left edge:
 Stone statue of Cupid (menacing love) with finger over his lip.
 Mean to ask keep the action in secret.
Lower left/below:
 Maenads.
Lower right:
 Playful cupids riding dolphin are reference to love.
 Water sprays out toward the lower right of the painting.
Inanimate object:
 Two cherubs (below the swing).
 Sordid action of the humans above them.

Foreground
Playboy Baron,
 One arm outstrectched toward the maiden ‘s skirt and other arm holding his balance. “specific
instruction”.
 “place me in a position where I can observe the legs of that charming girl”.
Originally, Bishop was requested by the preverse Baron but,
 Changed to the mistress’husband by Fragonard.
 The husband played a lesser role (immersed in shadow).
 Baron (illuminated under the maiden dress).

Star
Maiden (women on the swing)
 Wearing fabulous pink silk dress and lined with lace.
 Flies through the air on a sylvan swing.
 Her pink shoe flying off in the heat of the moment
 THE SWING PYRAMID
Composition
Triangular shape:

 Heighten two putti embracing.

 Stone lap dog and dolphine.
 Stone statue of Cupid.
 Lady’s slipper off her foot as she swinging – playful touch
Providing visual focus in the splash of sunlight.

Colour palette
1. Rococo style.
2. More sensual.
3. Pastel colour (as pastel as just at home in cupcake shop).
4. Frothy creams, juicy pinks and minty greens.

Lighting
Outdoor scenes:
1. Soft dappled sunlight filtering through the trees and backlighting.
2. Influcing scene with a soft, seductive glow.
3. Highlight her fair skin.
4. Creamy billows of fabric that swirl around her.
5. Remain in shadow (husband) ‘in the dark’ – wife’s affair.

Tone and mood

1. Light-hearted and gay.
2. Erotic mirth and frivolity.
3. Contrast between light and shadow (feeling that something illicit is taking place).

Brushstroke
 1. Emphasizing the free and easy nature.
2. Used a fluid, loose brushstroke.
3. Keeping the edges soft.

CRITICAL RECEPTION
 Fell out of favour after the revolution.
 New appreciation.

Contemporary:
1. More unfavourable reaction.
2. Brought harsh criticism from philosopher (Denis Diderot- Foremost Designer of The French
Enlightenment).

Posthumous:
1. Post revolution.
2. No room for frivolity and shallow subject matter.
3. Client base died during Terror in Paris.
4. He was forgotten and forsaken in favour of cleaner line, moral severity, classical subject of
Neoclassicists.

Modern day:
1. Hold a dear place in the heart of pop culture.
2. High fashion.
3. Server testament to the frivolity of Rococo Era.

RELATED PAINTING
1. The Little Swing, c. 1775 work by other artists.
2. Francisco Goya, The Swing, c. 1797.
3. Pierre-Auguste Renoir, The Swing, c. 1876.

ART PERIOD
 Later stage of the Rococo Era.
 Hedonistic freedom.
 Originated from the French decorative style Racaille, “decorative shell and rock work”
 Rich of France “reinforced wealth and pleasure in all beauty and splendour”.
 Scene of Arcadia.
 The Palace Versailles (ideal in decadent Rococo art and Architecture).
 Impressionisms (movement bears similarities to the Rococo in its emphasis on fleeting moment of
beauty.

ADD ON
- The Swing (L'Escarpolette) is used as Lucky Happenings on swing (Les Hasards Heureux de l'escarpolette).
- The Swing depicts a young man hiding in the foliage watching a young woman on a swing.
- At that time, the swing was a conventional symbol for infidelity
- The woman is pushed by an old man in the background who does not know the presence of the young man.
- The picture is like a simple picture of an innocent young woman while playing, but it is clearer that the picture is
deliberately provocative and somewhat rude.
- The woman is seen tossing one of her shoes towards the winged figure representing Cupid, the God of Roman
desire and erotic love.
- In the foreground (right), a small lapdog (loyalty symbol) sounds an alarm by barking but the woman's husband
is unaware.
- On the left, Cupid raises his finger to his lips to prevent both Venus-putti under the swing from releasing the toy.
- The liveliness of the painting is highlighted by the way the girl dresses according to the pattern of the
surrounding foliage, pastel colors that shine and soft lighting.
- Through the drawing it shows that Fragonard is unmatched in the field of titillation.

Bibliography

The Art History, (2020). The Swing, 1767.

https://www.theartstory.org/artist/fragonard-jean-honore/artworks/

WikiArt Visual Art Encylopedia, (2011). Jean-Honore Fragonard.

https://www.wikiart.org/en/jean-honore-fragonard

Artble, (2020). Jean-Honore Fragonard.

https://www.artble.com/artists/jean-honore_fragonard
The Art History, (2020). Biography of Jean-Honore Fragonard.
https://www.theartstory.org/artist/fragonard-jean-honore/life-and-legacy/#nav
Art Encyclopedia, (2007). The Swing (1767).
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-paintings/swing-fragonard.htm#description
Nur Arieffa Azrean, (2017). Art History
https://mynewarthistory.blogspot.com/2017/11/seni-rococo.html

Link Video Pre-record presentation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms-k3Bhn8x4&feature=youtu.be