Fragonard poster of the happy possibilities of the swing. Jean Honore Fragonard

A plump, ruddy dandy with sparkling eyes, witty, charming, invariably friendly and cheerful, Fragonard was a true son of the gallant 18th century. Nature endowed him with talent, imagination and an independent disposition.

The artist became famous by creating canvases with love, gracefully frivolous scenes that brilliantly expressed the sophistication of the Rococo style. Theme of love, lyricism and eroticism, tender pastel shades, details like lush flying skirts - all this is characteristic of the Rococo style - an art designed primarily to please the eye.
Now let's take a closer look at one of his most famous paintings, THE SWING. This frivolous, bright, daring masterpiece by Fragonard has become a real symbol French painting XVIII century.

THE HISTORY OF THE CREATION OF THE "SWING" IS VERY INTERESTING
It began with a spicy episode, which we know about thanks to the records of a contemporary.
So, Gabriel François Doyen, the venerable painter, famous for his historical paintings, a member of the Academy since 1759, was invited to his place by a certain noble person (it is believed that it was one of richest people France - financier Saint-Julien).

The invitation came to the artist just a few days after the appearance of his painting “Saint Genevieve” at the Salon.
The memoirs of a contemporary convey to us Doyen’s direct speech: “He (the customer) was in his “single apartment” with his beloved... He started with pleasantries and praise, and ended up dreaming of ordering me a painting.

“I would like you to depict Madame (pointing to his mistress) on a swing that the bishop is rocking. And you will place me in such a way that I can see the legs of this charming creature - and the more you want to bring gaiety to this work, so much the better."

I confess,” said Doyen, “that this proposal, which I should not have expected in view of the nature of the motive underlying it, at first confused me and made me literally numb. I, however, recovered quickly enough to answer almost immediately: “Ah, monsieur, we must add to your plan Madame’s shoes flying into the air and picked up by cupids.”

But, since I was very far from wanting to write on such a subject, so opposite to the genre in which I work, I sent this gentleman to Monsieur Fragonard, who accepted the order and is now busy creating this strange work. "This" strange piece"became one of Fragonard's masterpieces. He emerged very gracefully from difficult situation, in which the “whimsical” customer placed it.

The artist replaced the bishop with a less piquant figure of an old servant (or the beauty’s husband?), and the happy owner of the “madame” himself is depicted as a very young gentleman (although in reality, of course, he was not one).

Unfortunately, there is no continuation of the story of “The Swing” in the memoirs of a contemporary, and we do not know how Saint-Julien assessed Fragonard’s work. But, probably, he should have liked her, because the “legs of the lovely creature” are visible in every detail - right down to the pink garter on the boiling white stocking.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PICTURE

The subject of this charming painting, so typical of the artist’s work, is playfully erotic. The young beauty, taking off on a swing, throws off her shoe in selfless ecstasy. From below, from behind the bushes, her lover admires the girl. Against the background of the dense greenery of the garden, a lush silhouette moves pink dress young charmer; it swells and flies apart from the movement of the swing. This coral spot shines with colorful nuances.

In the play of sun glare, the stone god of love Cupid seems alive. Pressing his finger to his lips, he seems to be asking us not to give away the baron hiding in the bushes. The pedestal of the statue of Cupid is decorated with a classical relief depicting the Three Graces, ancient goddesses beauty. Two hugging cupids riding a dolphin gracefully echo the love theme.

The soft pink dress of a girl swinging on a swing stands out brightly against the background of an old garden shrouded in foggy haze. The green-blue color of the foliage looks somewhat unnatural (although, perhaps, it imparts a special charm to this particular picture), and in his further works Fragonard no longer resorted to such color delights.

If the garden looks slightly “blurry”, then on the carefully painted dress of a charming lady you can see any, even the most small detail. Fragonard uses here a technique that is rare for himself - he paints the girl’s figure with a dry brush, abandoning the thick, smooth strokes characteristic of most of his paintings. Sparkling highlights and costume details such as the necklace, dress bodice and lace are painted using the impasto technique.

With amazing ease and grace, the artist depicts the extremely complex pose of the model leaning back. The movement of the swing is emphasized by light shadows, which at the same time draw the viewer’s attention to the graceful gesture of the girl’s hands and her bright eyes, shining brightly from the shadow that the flirtatious hat casts on her face. By skillfully combining all these details, Fragonard creates a lively, vibrant and truly seductive scene.

Baron Saint-Julien apparently did not show the painting painted for him to the public for quite a long time, and it became widely known only after an engraving was made from it in 1782.

In conclusion, we add that the picture, in addition to the neutral title “Swing”, has another, more playful one - “Happy Possibilities of a Swing”.

Text with illustrations.http://maxpark.com/community/6782/content/3056774

Reviews

Let's say that Fragonard is a sort of flatterer, if you look at other works. Of course, the artist lives mainly on orders, there’s nothing you can do about it. He also has other things that cannot be called milestones in French painting of the 18th century, but can be considered achievements in some sectors of the front. But this is just my opinion, perhaps too subjective.

Fragonard, after all, was a salon artist. Such people were not very recognized in the artistic community, but the paintings were successful. They decorated salons and boudoirs. Your view is correct. Everyone has it talented artist had their own customers.

The artist became famous by creating canvases with love, gracefully frivolous scenes that brilliantly expressed the sophistication of the Rococo style. The theme of love, lyricism and eroticism, delicate pastel colors, details like fluffy flying skirts - all this is characteristic of the Rococo style - an art designed primarily to please the eye.

Today we will take a closer look at one of his most famous paintings.SWING.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) / Swing (1767)

This frivolous, bright, daring masterpiece by Fragonard has become a real symbol of French painting XVIII century.

THE HISTORY OF THE CREATION OF THE "SWING" IS VERY INTERESTING

It began with a spicy episode, which we know about thanks to the records of a contemporary.
So, Gabriel François Doyen, a venerable painter, famous for his historical paintings, a member of the Academy since 1759, was invited to his place by a certain noble person (it is believed that this was one of the richest people in France - the financier Saint-Julien).

This “strange work” became one of Fragonard’s masterpieces . He very gracefully got out of the difficult situation in which his “whimsical” customer put him.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PICTURE

Against the background of the dense greenery of the garden, the lush silhouette of the pink dress of a young charmer moves; it swells and flies apart from the movement of the swing. This coral spot shines with colorful nuances.

In the play of sun glare, the stone god of love Cupid seems alive. Pressing his finger to his lips, he seems to be asking us not to give away the baron hiding in the bushes.

The pedestal of the Cupid statue is decorated with a classical relief depicting the Three Graces, ancient goddesses of beauty. Two hugging cupids riding a dolphin gracefully echo the love theme.

Soft pink swinging dress the girl on the swing stands out brightly against the background of the old garden shrouded in foggy haze. The green-blue color of the foliage looks somewhat unnatural (although, perhaps, it imparts a special charm to this particular picture), and in his further works Fragonard no longer resorted to such color delights.
If the garden looks slightly “blurry”, then you can see any, even the smallest, detail on the beautiful lady’s carefully designed dress. Fragonard uses here a technique that is rare for himself - he paints the girl’s figure with a dry brush, abandoning the thick, smooth strokes characteristic of most of his paintings. Sparkling highlights and costume details such as the necklace, dress bodice and lace are painted using the impasto technique.
With amazing ease and grace, the artist depicts the extremely complex pose of the model leaning back.

The movement of the swing is emphasized by light shadows, which simultaneously draw the viewer’s attention to the graceful gesture of the girl’s hands and her bright eyes, shining brightly from the shadow that the flirtatious hat casts on her face. By skillfully combining all these details, Fragonard creates a lively, vibrant and truly seductive scene.

Baron Saint-Julien apparently did not show the painting painted for him to the public for quite a long time, and it became widely known only after an engraving was made from it in 1782.

THE THEME OF THE SWING IS REFLECTED IN THE WORKS OF OTHER ARTISTS

Nikolay Bogdanov-Belsky. On the swing.

Nicola Lancret.Girl on a forest swing

Tojetti Virgilio "Theswing"

Francisco Goya. On swing

J.R. Wegelin. On the swing

Louis Icart."Swing"

Edwin Thomas Roberts. "Girl On A"Swing"

Valery Pervuninsky. Swing

Auguste Renoir. On the swing

Venitsianov A. G. Girl on a swing

Nikolay Bogdanov-Belsky “Two girls onswing"

Andrey Markin. Swing

Irina Kotova. Spring

Oleg Chubakov. Swing

A. Gunin. On the autumn swing

GBOU Gymnasium No. 405

Fragonard painting

"Happy Swing Possibilities"

Work of a student of grade 11 "B"

Erdakova Alina

Teacher:

Dudkina Natalia Vsevolodovna

St. Petersburg, 2013

Painting Jean-Honoré Fragonard“The Happy Possibilities of the Swing,” written between 1765 and 1772, is one of the most famous works this great artist. This painting, written with mischief, became a real symbol of French painting of the 18th century.

One cannot but agree with the genius of this work, because what at first glance seems to be only a scene of entertainment for young aristocrats captured in motion, turns out, thanks to the rich coloring, to be a charming vision. That is why I chose this painting for this work.

Information about the author of the work

Jean Honoré Fragonard (1732 – 1806) – famous French artist second halfXVIIIV., a brilliant painter and draftsman, a subtle colorist; worked on engravings and designed books. Left great legacy(about 500 paintings and about 1000 drawings), worked in everyday genre, painted gallant scenes, landscapes, portraits.

Fragonard was born in 1732 in Grasse into the family of a glover. Having moved to Paris, in 1747 he entered the workshop of J.-B.S. Chardin (1699 - 1779), an artist who worked in the genre of everyday life and still life. After studying with Chardin for 6 months, Fragonard moved to the workshop of François Boucher (1703 - 1770), an artist of bright decorative talent in the Rococo style, whose work became Starting point in the development of Fragonard's creativity.

In the 60s and 70s he painted a lot and intensively: paintings with views of Italy, gallant scenes, compositions on themes from Torquato Tasso’s poem, portraits. To enter the Academy of Arts, Fragonard created paintings in historical genre, received the title of academician, and his painting was acquired for the collection of King Louis XV.

However, soon after that he stopped working historical origin painting and, following the tastes of the era, began to paint idealistic canvases and pastorals in the spirit of Watteau and Boucher. His works became very fashionable and were sold at high prices, thanks to which he earned good means. But the outbreak of the revolution ruined him, and classicism, a new style in French art, deprived him of his former popularity.

In 1793, Fragonard left Paris for Grasse. IN early XIX century he returned to Paris, where he died in 1806, almost completely forgotten.

History of the creation of the work

The history of the creation of "Swing" is very interesting.

Gabriel François Doyen, a venerable painter, was invited to his place by a certain noble man (it is believed that he was one of the richest people in France - the financier Saint-Julien). The invitation came to the artist literally a few days after the appearance of his painting “Saint Genevieve” at the Salon.

The memoirs of a contemporary convey to us Doyen’s direct speech: “He (the customer) was in his “single apartment” with his beloved... He began with pleasantries and praise, and ended with the fact that he dreams of ordering me a painting. “I would like you to depicted Madame on a swing, which is rocked by the bishop. And you will place me in such a way that I can see the legs of this lovely creature - and the more you want to bring gaiety into this work, the better it will be." I confess," said Doyen, "that this is a proposal that I should not have to expect in view of the nature of the motive underlying it, at first confused me and made me literally freeze.

I, however, recovered quickly enough to answer almost immediately: “Ah, monsieur, we must add to your plan Madame’s shoes flying into the air and picked up by cupids.” But, since I was very far from wanting to write on such a subject, so contrary to the genre in which I work, I sent this gentleman to Monsieur Fragonard, who accepted the order and is now busy creating this strange work."

In Fragonard's painting, the bishop turned into a certain young man, but the customer himself is really depicted in the pose that he wanted. The shoe (albeit only one) actually flies into the air, but Cupid does not pick it up. But there are still cupids - in the form of park sculptures: cupids with a jug and Falconet’s “Threatening Cupid”.

The work belongs to a cultural and historical era,

style, flow

It was in the paintings of Fragonard that the Rococo style was most fully embodied–with its powder, perfume and skillful inventiveness combined with magnificent completeness of execution.

Meaning of the name

The picture, except for the neutral title"Swing", has another, more playful, –

Pastoral paintings are varied - love scenes, spicy scenes in parks and boudoirs. They convey a wealth of shades of real sensory impressions of life, the colors of nature, the beauty of existence and, at the same time, they are ephemeral and theatrical, like all the art of Rococo, in which grace, lightness, thoughtlessness, and everything exotic are valued.

Artistic features and means of expression

The picture is just as unusually expressive."The Happy Possibilities of the Swing." At first glance, this is just a scene of entertainment captured in motion by young aristocrats. True Master composition, Fragonard shows the figures of the lady and gentleman from complex angles, their movements are conveyed surprisingly accurately.

Grace and gaiety emanate from the girl coquettishly flying up on a swing and the gentleman gazing at the graceful legs of this charming creature. The exquisite color scheme is based on a combination of the dominant tones of the lady’s pink dress and the emerald tone of the dense greenery of the park.

If the garden looks slightly “blurry”, then you can see any, even the smallest, detail on the beautiful lady’s carefully designed dress. Fragonard uses a rare technique here– he paints the girl's figure with a dry brush, abandoning the thick, smooth strokes characteristic of most of his paintings. Sparkling highlights and costume details such as the necklace, dress bodice and lace are painted using the impasto technique. .

With amazing ease and grace, the artist depicts the extremely complex pose of the model leaning back. The movement of the swing is emphasized by light shadows, which simultaneously draw the viewer’s attention to the graceful gesture of the girl’s hands and her bright eyes, shining brightly from the shadow that the flirtatious hat casts on her face. By skillfully combining all these details, Fragonard creates a lively and vibrant scene.

Fragments and details

A lovely girl with flirtatious ease throws her elegant shoe high while swinging on a swing in a magnificent park. We can almost hear the rustling of petticoats as her lover gazes down at her. Girl in a shining stream sunlight is the focus of the composition. The porcelain perfection of her figure, pink dress and rapid upward movement attract the viewer's attention to her and the gaze of her lover.

The girl herself is written, of course, without pretensions to depth of characterization; in her eyes and smile only an expression of fear and mischief flickers. Fragonard replaced the bishop with a more modest figure, and the one admiring the “lovely creature” is depicted as a very young gentleman. The pink shoe flies into the air (only one), but the cupids have turned into marble statues, as if contemplating what is happening.

The picture is small. Painting size 81 x 64 cm, oil on canvas.

The fate of the work. Location

The Happy Possibilities of a Swing is currently in the Wallace Collection, London. This is a relatively small (about 5,500 exhibits), but rare in the selection and quality of objects private Art Museum in London's Marylebone.

At the crossroads of opinions

This painting by Fragonard occupies key place not only in the history of gallant XVIII culture century, but also in the history of visuality and is directly related to the Enlightenment reform of vision.

The Swing (1767), Wallace Collection, London

This frivolous, bright, daring masterpiece by Fragonard became a true symbol of French painting of the 18th century. The painting was commissioned from the artist by the financier Saint-Julien. Apparently, Saint-Julien first offered this order to the master of historical painting Gabriel Francois Doyen. Doyen refused to accept it, probably considering that writing such scenes was beneath his dignity. And he advised Saint-Julien to turn to “Monsieur Fragonard,” who by this time had already fallen in the eyes of “real artists” who create monumental canvases based on subjects from ancient history or mythology. So, most likely, Doyen poured some bile into this redirection of the order. But Fragonard coped brilliantly with the order, creating a composition whose every detail is imbued with subtle eroticism and at the same time free from pornographic vulgarity. Moreover, one can be ironic: this picture has remained for centuries, but hardly many people remember Doyen’s masterpieces.

The history of the creation of "Swing" is very interesting. It began with a spicy episode, which we know about thanks to the records of a contemporary.
So, Gabriel François Doyen, a venerable painter, famous for his historical paintings, a member of the Academy since 1759, was invited to his place by a certain noble person (it is believed that this was one of the richest people in France - the financier Saint-Julien). The invitation came to the artist just a few days after the appearance of his painting “Saint Genevieve” at the Salon.
The memoirs of a contemporary convey to us Doyen’s direct speech: “He (the customer) was in his “single apartment” with his beloved... He began with pleasantries and praise, and ended with the fact that he dreams of ordering me a painting. “I would like you to depicted Madame (pointing to her mistress) on a swing, which is rocked by the bishop. And you will place me in such a way that I can see the legs of this charming creature - and the more you want to bring gaiety into this work, the better. "I confess," said Doyen, "that this is a proposal that I should not have to expect in view of the nature of the motive underlying it, at first confused me and made me literally numb. I, however, recovered quickly enough to answer almost immediately: “Ah, monsieur, we must add to your plan Madame’s shoes, flying into the air and picked up by cupids "But, since I was very far from the desire to write on such a plot, so opposite to the genre in which I work, I sent this gentleman to Monsieur Fragonard, who accepted the order and is now busy creating this strange work."
This “strange work” became one of Fragonard’s masterpieces. He very gracefully got out of the difficult situation in which his “whimsical” customer put him. The artist replaced the bishop with a less piquant figure of an old servant (or the beauty’s husband?), and the happy owner of the “madame” himself is depicted as a very young gentleman (although in reality, of course, he was not one).
Unfortunately, there is no continuation of the story of “The Swing” in the memoirs of a contemporary, and we do not know how Saint-Julien assessed Fragonard’s work. But, probably, he should have liked her, because the “legs of the lovely creature” are visible in every detail - right down to the pink garter on the boiling white stocking. And Fragonard brought plenty of “gaiety” and playful ease into this work.
In conclusion, we add that the picture, in addition to the neutral title “Swing”, has another, more playful one - “Happy Possibilities of a Swing”.

The soft pink dress of a girl swinging on a swing stands out against the background of an old garden shrouded in foggy haze. The green-blue color of the foliage looks somewhat unnatural (although, perhaps, it imparts a special charm to this particular picture), and in his further works Fragonard no longer resorted to such color delights.
If the garden looks slightly “blurry”, then you can see any, even the smallest, detail on the beautiful lady’s carefully designed dress. Fragonard uses here a technique that is rare for himself - he paints the girl’s figure with a dry brush, abandoning the thick, smooth strokes characteristic of most of his paintings. Sparkling highlights and costume details such as the necklace, dress bodice and lace are painted using the impasto technique.
With amazing ease and grace, the artist depicts the extremely complex pose of the model leaning back. The movement of the swing is emphasized by light shadows, which simultaneously draw the viewer’s attention to the graceful gesture of the girl’s hands and her bright eyes, shining brightly from the shadow that the flirtatious hat casts on her face. By skillfully combining all these details, Fragonard creates a lively, vibrant and truly seductive scene.

Wallace Collection, London, England.

The painting by Jean-Honore Fragonard “The Swing, or the Happy Accidents of a Swing” (Jean-Honore Fragonard “The Swing”) is considered to be an exemplary example of gallant painting. In fact, there are all the signs of the gallant genre: a lady and gentlemen in the park, a piquant plot, cupids, etc. However, as this painting by Fragonard occupies a key place not only in the history of gallant culture of the 18th century, but also in the history of visuality and directly related to the educational reform of vision.

The program for "The Swing", drawn up by the client, Baron Saint-Julien, is known from the words of Gabriel François Doyen, a historical and religious painter to whom Saint-Julien initially approached. Doyen’s story as reported by Collet is as follows: “Would you believe it,” Doyen told me, “a few days after the appearance of my painting “Saint Genevieve” at the Salon, a noble man sent for me to order a painting for me... He was in his “single apartment" with his beloved... He began with pleasantries and praise, and ended by saying that he wanted to commission me a painting... "I would like you to depict Madame (pointing to his mistress) on a swing that the bishop is rocking. And you will place me in such a way that I can see the legs of this lovely creature; and the more you want to add fun to this work, the better it will be.” I confess,” said Doyen, “that this proposal, which I should not have expected in view of the nature of the motive underlying it, at first confused me and made me literally numb. I, however, recovered quickly enough to answer almost immediately: “Ah, monsieur, we must add to your plan Madame’s shoes flying into the air and picked up by cupids.”

In the end, Doyen refused the order, recommending Fragonard instead. In Fragonard's painting, the bishop turned into a certain young man, but the customer himself is really depicted in the pose that he wanted. The shoe (albeit only one) actually flies into the air, but Cupid does not pick it up. But there are still cupids - in the form of park sculptures: cupids with a jug and Falconet’s “Threatening Cupid”.
http://inori-kun.livejournal.com/376269.html

In the picture most of The canvas is occupied by the image of the dense greenery of the garden - in the foreground on the right there is an old gnarled trunk, a lush tangle of branches at the upper edge, sunlight in the depths, flowers and leaves painted in small strokes in the foreground. Against this background stands out the lush and complex silhouette pink dress of a young lady; it swells and flies apart from the movement of the swing. This coral spot shines with colorful nuances.

The tone transitions from light to deep pink are completed with a red stripe of the pillow on the swing. The chubby beauty herself is written, of course, without pretensions to depth of characterization; in her eyes and smile only an expression of fear and mischief flickers. Fragonard replaced the bishop with a more modest figure, and the owner of the “lovely creature” is depicted as a very young gentleman. The pink shoe flies into the air (only one), but the cupids have turned into marble statues, as if contemplating what is happening.