The Happy Accidents of the Swing (1767) – Jean-Honoré Fragonard

French artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard‘s “The Happy Accidents of the Swing” (“Les hasards heureux de l’escarpolette”), also known by its abbreviated title, “The Swing“, is one of the most famous masterpieces to come out of the Rococo era, and is cited in numerous works of pop culture today. Whether as the inspiration of designer Manolo Blahnik’s coveted shoes or the backdrop to Princess Anna’s performance of “For the First Time in Forever” in the Oscar-winning Disney animation, “Frozen”, the influence of “The Swing” is pervasive. Though the painting has become cushioned in associations with freedom, beauty and fashion, that was certainly not the case in the mid-1700s when it debuted as a scandalous representation of nudity! In the 1760s, Monsieur de Saint-Julien, a French nobleman, had approached many artists with a commission to paint a likeness of his mistress, yet was continually rebuffed, as to have a mistress was a grievous moral offence at the time. Moreover, the painting Saint-Julien envisioned was so obscene that every artist he met refused outright. That is, until the commission reached Jean-Honoré Fragonard, who accepted, and completed the painting in 1767. “The Swing” does not tempt the viewer with nakedness, but covertly portrays wanton pleasure and pornographic themes through symbolism that can be interpreted with psychoanalytic theories, such as those codified by Sigmund Freud. From the positions of the mistress, riding carefree on the swing, and the young man lying beneath her, to the saucily-coded angels and the bishop manoeuvring the swing, the painting is replete with innuendos. The rhythmic motion of the swing which, like dancing or horse-riding, is an allusion to copulation, and the subtle state of undress of the mistress, whose shoe has flown off, and young man, who is missing his hat, underscore common euphemisms to genitalia in that period. The backdrop is also of interest: the dark and unruly undergrowth, criss-crossed with vines, resembles a hidden cavity. The woods are penetrated by a beam of sunlight, which cuts through the centre of the composition. According to the psychoanalytic system laid out by Gaston Bachelard in the “Psychoanalysis of Fire”, the infiltration of fire or heat in an area is a representation of sexual possession. In his reading, the ray of light is a phallic symbol that carries a masculine thrust. This is only the beginning of the litany of suggestive details that Fragonard has woven into a formula for the highest pitch of eroticism: lush colours, lustful gazes, the wings of the cupids and the symbolism of the sexual act through the geometry of the composition. Though “The Swing” was castigated as an example of the degradation of art for immoral ends, Fragonard’s gift of finding inventive expression for sensuality has ensured that his painting lives on as one of the finest works of the 18th century Rococo movement.