Title: Happy Accidents of the Swing.
Artist: Jean-Honoré Fragonard.
Date: 1767
Describe the artwork.
- There is a young woman on a swing, there is someone older behind her who looks like
he is the one pushing and pulling the swing. There is a young man in front of her lying in
the bushes admiring her. Her shoe has also flown off and looks like it will land in the
young man’s lap. They seem to be in a very nice or well-designed garden. The woman is
also at the highest point of the swing. The two young people seem to have an interest in
each other because they are looking at each other and are both smirking ever so
slightly.
Major Ideas behind the work.
- This picture shows us the aristocratic life of ease. It was made to show more of the
Rocco painting genre. It gives the consumer more romantic visions of life, free from
hardships in which courtship, music, and festive picnics filled the days. However
Fragonard was skilled in Baroque so there is a mix of Rocco and Baroque as we can see
the off-balance composition arranged along the diagonal, and the contrasts of light and
dark visible in the lush garden.
Compare this artwork to another artwork.
- This picture can be compared to the Las Meninds by Diego Velázques because it is also
in the Baroque period but we also see the main attraction that the painter wants to
draw attention to is put in lighter or brighter clothes, so we look at that first and
everything else is a little more dull. The Las Meninds shows servants looking after the
princess while she gets painted and just like how she has a life of ease the Happy
Accidents of the swing also show how the aristocrats had easy lives.
Connection to the artwork.
- The picture shows two young people who have an attraction and someone older who is
more in the back who looks like he is almost pulling her back. This makes me think of a
father or guardian trying to protect their daughters from boys. How fathers always want
their daughters to stay innocent and still be their little girls and not be attracted or want
to be in relationships with boys. I can relate to this because my dad did that to me when
I was a kid. If a boy looked at me or even if a boy talked to me my dad would always be
watching me and questioning me about who they are, and he was very protective over
me when it came to boys. However there does come a time when they do have to let go
and let their kids grow up. Just like in the picture she is still more towards him, and it
looks like she is teasingly throwing her shoe at him which could be done on purpose to
flirt. Also makes me think of how kids will do what they want to not matter what when
they get to a certain age because they want to live their lives and parents cannot
protect them forever and must let them live and be their own person.