Last week we chose an artist we found interesting to do a short research project about. I had chosen Jean Honore Fragonard for his painting The Swing. Unfortunately The Swing was not the painting I was discussing. The Swing was very intriguing to me, and one of the main reasons I chose Fragonard as the artist to research. I chose another painting of his titled Young Girl Reading. This week I would like to look further into The Swing and the story that lies beneath.
When first looking at this painting I saw it as playful and lighthearted piece. After my research I learned about the scandal behind these figures. The man swinging the woman is said to be her husband. You then see a man hiding in the bushes. This man is said to be the woman’s lover. He hides in the bushes to catch a glimpse up the woman’s dress, as she would swing over him. The Cupid statue on the left side of the painting holds his finger to his lips to keep it this affair he is witnessing a secret. I noticed that the lighting has illuminated the three involved in the scandal (Cupid, the woman, and her lover) as if to bring them out into the open to play around with the thrill of being caught in the act. The husband and innocent looking angel status stay back in the shadows. Representing staying in the dark of the whole situation.
Fragonard uses pastel colors, pale pinks and greens creating a more sensual coloring in the painting. Looking closer you are able to see the loose brushstrokes in the pink dress of the woman. We are also able to see her garter belt. Philosophers of the Enlightenment wanted to soon condemn this painting for being able to see this aspect. They wanted a new style of art. Art that showed moral behavior in its figures, of human beings at their most dignified state. The Scandal behind The Swing did not demonstrate such ideas.
What I thought to be a lighthearted playful painting turned out to be a scandalous endeavor to study. I very much enjoyed the story behind this painting because it demonstrates how perspective can mean so much in a painting. It’s how we interpret the figures actions with out them moving or narrating what is going on. By knowing the story behind this painting I was able to see the importance of how these figures were illuminated and brought to my attention. The man in the dark about his woman’s affair, the two lovers playfully flirting right in front of his face. The colors also create this disillusion in the piece. Fragonard used pastels that create a playful scheme of things when the colors that would better represent the story should be more vibrant and energetic. It’s all very interesting.
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