The Swing
1782
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
Artist
Nicolas Delaunay
Nicolas Delaunay (1739–1792) was a French artist, born in Paris.
See the richer artist page1782
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Dominant colour
The Swing is a 1782 by Nicolas Delaunay, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a woman on a swing, flying through the air, surrounded by people and statues. She's losing her shoe, and a man in the bushes is getting a glimpse under her skirt. This painting is interesting because it shows the playful and flirtatious side of life in 18th century France. Check out the work of Jean-Honoré Fragonard, the artist who created the original painting this print is based on.
This large print, based on a painting by Fragonard, symbolizes the pleasure-seeking and frivolous aspects of Rococo art. Unbeknownst to the man pushing the swing, a suitor reclining in the bushes gets a glimpse under the woman's skirts as she flies through the air, losing her shoe. Contemporary viewers would have understood the association of the lost shoe with sexual dalliance, a motif reinforced by other elements within the image, such as the cavorting nude figures on the base of the statue of a cupid who gestures "hush." Delaunay's work is extremely successful in translating the qualities…
Read the full account in the museum source.
Nicolas Delaunay (1739–1792) was a French artist, born in Paris.
See the richer artist page
