The Swing
The Swing
¡§Inviting¡¨ is the word that comes to mind when I look at the painting The Swing. This masterpiece was Jean-Honore Fragonard¡¦s most famous Rococo piece painted in 1766. The most prominent reason I enjoy this painting is because there is some sort of story line or drama unveiling here. The painting is starring Barton de Saint-Julien and his mistress who is swinging on a twiddled vine looped down from a tree and co-starring is an older gentleman who is left back in the shadows as if not a part of this rendezvous these two lovers are sharing. Barton, lying down around the shrubs in the grass, is in awe of his mistress swinging above him. She seems to be fluttering her feet like the wings of a butterfly and then nonchalantly slips off one of her peach ornamented shoes merely trying to catch her lover¡¦s attention if only for a brief second. Obviously, she has his full attention, and one can tell by the ecstatic look on Barton¡¦s face as he¡¦s catching the great view she offers down to him; well at least his face ought to be in amazement of her because she is his mistress so that means she better be incredibly gorgeous because there is a wife around there somewhere who probably wouldn¡¦t be to happen to find this out. º
Not only do I respect the way Fragonard seems to draw me in the painting by there being some sort of plot line, but also because of Fragonard¡¦s elegant use of colors and lighting; dimming and brightening in all the right places. The colors were all very warm feeling, like the sun beating down on a summer¡¦s day. Monochromatic best describes the color-scheme used around the outsides of the painting, like the trees and the shadows of them. However, Fragonard switches to a polychromatic scheme when he gets near the central area of the scene, brightening everything around and on the mistress, especially her dress. He not only focuses on the mistress with where he places his colors but by the way the lines move throughout the painting. The
¡§Inviting¡¨ is the word that comes to mind when I look at the painting The Swing. This masterpiece was Jean-Honore Fragonard¡¦s most famous Rococo piece painted in 1766. The most prominent reason I enjoy this painting is because there is some sort of story line or drama unveiling here. The painting is starring Barton de Saint-Julien and his mistress who is swinging on a twiddled vine looped down from a tree and co-starring is an older gentleman who is left back in the shadows as if not a part of this rendezvous these two lovers are sharing. Barton, lying down around the shrubs in the grass, is in awe of his mistress swinging above him. She seems to be fluttering her feet like the wings of a butterfly and then nonchalantly slips off one of her peach ornamented shoes merely trying to catch her lover¡¦s attention if only for a brief second. Obviously, she has his full attention, and one can tell by the ecstatic look on Barton¡¦s face as he¡¦s catching the great view she offers down to him; well at least his face ought to be in amazement of her because she is his mistress so that means she better be incredibly gorgeous because there is a wife around there somewhere who probably wouldn¡¦t be to happen to find this out. º
Not only do I respect the way Fragonard seems to draw me in the painting by there being some sort of plot line, but also because of Fragonard¡¦s elegant use of colors and lighting; dimming and brightening in all the right places. The colors were all very warm feeling, like the sun beating down on a summer¡¦s day. Monochromatic best describes the color-scheme used around the outsides of the painting, like the trees and the shadows of them. However, Fragonard switches to a polychromatic scheme when he gets near the central area of the scene, brightening everything around and on the mistress, especially her dress. He not only focuses on the mistress with where he places his colors but by the way the lines move throughout the painting. The