The Swing (painting)
The Swing (French: L'Escarpolette), also known as The Happy Accidents of the Swing (French: Les Hasards Heureux de l'Escarpolette, the original title), is an 18th century oil painting by Jean-Honoré Fragonard. It is considered as one of the masterpieces of the rococo era.
The painting
The painting depicts a young man hidden in the bushes, watching a woman on a swing, being pushed by her husband. Her husband is hidden in the shadow, as he is unaware of the affair. (The Baron had requested a portrait of his mistress seated on a swing being pushed by a bishop, which Fragonard later replaced with a smiling husband.) As the lady goes high on the swing, she lets the young man take a furtive peep under her dress, all while flicking her own shoe off in the direction of a Cupid and turning her back to two angelic cherubim on the side of her clueless husband.
The lady is wearing a Bergère hat (shepherdess hat) which is ironic since shepherds are normally associated with virtue because of their living close to nature, uncorrupted by the temptations of the city.
According to Charles Collé's memoirs[1], a young nobleman[2] asked first Gabriel François Doyen to make this painting of him and his mistress. Not comfortable with this frivolous work, Doyen refused and passed on the commission to Fragonard.[1]
Replicas
Fragonard has made several versions of this painting, albeit not quite identical. Virgile Josz, in his book "Fragonard: mœurs du XVIIIe siècle" (1901), mentions three replicas:
- the original, formerly owned by baron Bollioud de Saint-Julien, was sold at his death, in 1788, to the Duke of Morny.[3] It was later purchased by Lord Hertford on the 31st of May 1865[4] for the Wallace Collection where it is now visible.
- one owned by Edmond James de Rothschild[3], slightly different from the original[4], has a known peculiarity: the lady's dress is blue, not pink[5]
- a smaller version (56 × 46 cm) owned by Duke Jules de Polignac[3]. This painting became the property of the Grimaldi family in 1930 when Pierre de Polignac (1895-1964) married Princess Charlotte, Duchess of Valentinois (1898-1977). In 1966, it was given by the Grimaldi & Labeyrie Collection to the city of Versailles, where it is currently exhibited at Musée Lambinet[6]
Notable derived works
- 1782: Les Hazards [sic] Heureux de l'Escarpolettes [sic], etching and engraving by Nicolas de Launay (1739–1792), 62.3 × 45.5 cm (24 ⅝ × 17 ⅞ in).[7] Contrary to the original painting, the lady is facing right and has plumes on her hat (among other dissimilarities) because it was drawn after the replica owned by Edmond de Rothschild.
- 1972: Sailin' Shoes, cover art of record album by American rock band Little Feat, artwork by Neon Park
- 1999: The first act of the ballet "Contact: The Musical" by Susan Stroman and John Weidman is described as a "contact improvisation" on the painting.[8]
- 2001: The Swing (after Fragonard), a headless lifesize recreation of Fragonard's model clothed in African fabric, by Yinka Shonibare[9]
- 2010: Tangled, a Disney film based on the Rapunzel story, based its visual style on The Swing.[10]
References
- Notes
- ^ a b Collé, Charles. Journal et mémoires de Charles Collé sur les hommes de lettres, les ouvrages dramatiques et les événements les plus mémorables du règne de Louis XV (1748-1772). III. Paris: Firmin Didot Frères, Fils et Cie. pp. 165–166. http://books.google.com/books?id=9ZBcAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA165.
- ^ Although his identity was not unveiled by Collé, it is generally admitted that it was Marie-François-David Bollioud de Saint-Julien, baron of Argental (1713–1788), best known as Baron de Saint-Julien, the then Receiver General of the French Clergy (hence the clergyman pushing the swing). De Saint-Julien, a friend of Voltaire, was the first owner of the painting, as mentioned in Virgile Josz's book Fragonard: mœurs du XVIIIe siècle" (1901).
- ^ a b c Wallace Collection (1908). Catalogue of the Oil Paintings and Water Colours in the Wallace Collection (8th ed.). http://books.google.com/books?id=jPjkXCoatd8C&pg=PA54. "From the collections of Baron de St. Julien (1788) and the Duc de Morny (1865). A repetition of by no means equal merit is in the collection of Baron Edmond de Rothschild ; a smaller version was in that of the Duc de Polignac (see Virgile Josz: Fragonard)."
- ^ a b Nevill, Ralph; Jerningham, Charles Edward (1908). Piccadilly to Pall Mall: Manners, Morals, and Man. Duckworth & co.. p. 248. http://books.google.com/books?id=QUwuAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA248. "The Hasards Heureux de l'Escarpolette, which at Hertford House is called the swing, was formerly in the possession of the Duc de Morny. At his sale, in 1865, Lord Hertford secured it for 30,200 francs. (...) A replica of this painting, slightly different in detail, belongs to Baron Edmond de Rothschild."
- ^ Bremmer, Jan (1991). From Sappho to De Sade: Moments in the History of Sexuality. Routledge. pp. 80–81. ISBN 978-0-4150-6300-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=XAAOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA80. "Note 4: According to Nevill (1903), a replica with a blue instead of a pink dress is in the possession of Baron de Rothschild."
- ^ "L'escarpolette". Catalogue des Collections des Musées de France. Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication. http://www.culture.gouv.fr/public/mistral/joconde_fr?ACTION=CHERCHER&FIELD_1=REF&VALUE_1=04000001112. Retrieved 2009-01-18.
- ^ "About This Artwork". Art Institute of Chicago. http://www.artic.edu/aic/collections/artwork/15092. Retrieved 2011-11-19.
"R. S. Johnson Fine Art". R. S. Johnson Fine Art. http://www.rsjohnsonfineart.com/workdetails.php?Number=113. Retrieved 2011-11-19.
- ^ Terry Byrne (14 June 2008). "Moving tales of love make 'contact'". The Boston Globe. http://articles.boston.com/2008-06-14/ae/29279339_1_swing-dance-club-michael-wiley-pool-hall. Retrieved 7 May 2011. "'Swinging' tells the story behind a painting by 18th-century artist Jean-Honore Fragonard, in which a girl on a swing (Ariel Shepley) is teasing her companion (Jake Pfarr), while a servant (Sean Ewing) pushes the swing for her."
- ^ "Turner Prize 2004 — Yinka Shonibare". Tate Modern. http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/turnerprize/2004/shonibare2.shtm. Retrieved 2009-01-18.
- ^ Desowitz, Bill (2005-11-04)."Chicken Little & Beyond: Disney Rediscovers its Legacy Through 3D Animation". Animation World Magazine. Retrieved 2006-06-05.
External links
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Les_Hasards_heureux_de_l%27escarpolette Les Hasards heureux de l'escarpolette] at Wikimedia Commons