In quiet awe: The swing

Jean-Honoré Fragonard, ’The swing’ (1767)

I don’t know what to write about this painting.

And I don’t mean that I find it difficult to understand or that I have nothing to say about it. If anything, it’s the complete opposite. The Swing is my absolute favourite painting in all of art history and not only from the Rococo-era. Yet somehow, I love it so much so that I find it hard to explain why. Where do I even begin?

The colours, the extraordinary pink dress in the middle of a lush green garden with her skirt flowing in the air while she kicks off one of her shoes. The excessive abundance of foliage, flowers and light. Everything feels extravagant and playful. There’s so much beauty and so much happening, yet nothing feels too much or out of place. Everything belongs exactly where they are. I could happily look at this painting for hours.
Behind her, there’s a man pushing the swing and he seems to be delighted by this whole event. But somewhere in the bushes, another man is watching her.

He gazes up at her as she swings towards her, giving him a “privileged” view. Some interpretations suggest that this painting depicts a secret encounter. A romantic one. An act of infidelity on the woman’s part. The man pushing the swing might then be an unsuspecting participant. Her husband even. The woman is entirely enjoying herself and the attention she’s getting.

Even the flying shoe seems to invite an interpretation, for me at least, since the shoe is headed towards the statue putting up a finger towards its lips in the gesture of hush-hush. It could also just be a consequence thanks to the movement of the swing, but that is how I see it.

The beauty of the painting is immediate, but its appeal doesn’t end there the longer I look, the more I notice and the more I notice, the more questions I have. I think that’s why The Swing is so extraordinary to me. The possible story gives me something new to wonder about every single time I return to it.

But of course, The Swing is more than a beautiful young woman in a beautiful dress in a beautiful garden. There’s a little secret tucked away among all that beauty and I find it quite difficult not to become curious about it. I could happily look at this painting for hours.

The little details encourage us to invent a story, but Fragonard never gives us enough information to settle on one. I guess that’s part of the pleasure. Some work of art are easy t admire and  I still can’t explain why this painting is my favourite. Perhaps I don’t have to.

Video: Art Deco – This painting isn’t as innocent as it seems, here’s why.
Video: Smart History – Everything you need to know about Fragonard’s The Swing.

Website: Art in context – The Swing
Website: Artsy.net – Why Fragonard’s The Swing is a masterpiece of Rococo Art.

Other paintings I’ve written about:
The birth of Venus
Portrait of a black woman
Judith beheading Holofernes
The execution of Lady Jane Gray
The Piazza San Marco