Swings in lush outdoor settings were a popular subject matter in the 18th and 19th century. This is because they have a romantic and voyeuristic nuance, and in the majority of the paintings, the swing was manipulated by interested men. Many of these paintings were commissioned for royal men and and used as decoration for people in a high social class and were typically large. They were especially popular in France but their were also some Spanish painters who created swing pieces. In the 18th century, French women were known for placing importance on their fancy dress. There was a focus on a small waist from a corseted dress and they also liked to have large silky skirts which are often portrayed in the rococo style. This is seen in The Swing by Jean-Honoré Fragonard (c. 1767-1768) and Lancret also had an emphasis on the womans small waist in The Swing (c. 1730). All these pieces were done with oil on canvas and are genre paintings. They contain symbolism with the swing and romantic relationships between men and women. Several artists added their own sculptures to the painting or even their family as seen in The Swing by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1876) when Renoir has his brother in the composition. In the 18th and 19th century, swing compositions were popular among French and Spanish upper class because of their romantic and sexual indications.
Artist: Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Title: The Swing
Date: 1876
Medium: Oil on canvas
Musée d’Orsay
Renoir created this piece as a snapshot of an interaction between four main subjects. There are five figures in the background hidden behind rough brush strokes so they are faded and the main figures are the focus in the foreground. Two of the people in front are women, one a little girl and the other young lady. The remaining two men are the artists brother and another painter, Norbert Goeneutte. Renoir creates a moment of surprise where one man is glancing over at the other and the woman is looking away in embarrassment. This painting was not received well by critics at the 1877 impressionist exhibition because of the way he portrayed pale patches of light. There is many speculation of what the men could have said to the woman to embarrass her but no one knows the true interaction for sure.
Artist: Jean-Honoré Fragonard
Title: The Swing
Date: c. 1767-1768
Medium: Oil on canvas
The Wallace Collection
The Swing was one of Fragonard’s most famous works and it was done when he was transitioning from being a history painter to creating royal commissions. An unknown man commissioned the work and he is seen in the bottom left of the picture. The painting contains two men both watching a woman in a pink dress on a swing. She has carelessly flown her legs in the air which her lover admires from below. This causes her shoe to fly off and it is seen suspended in the air. The man swinging her is a layman, who is a non ordained member of the church. On the left, Fragonard has added his Menacing Love sculpture to this fancied scene. This painting was created for the nobleman's mistress who is seen on the swing.
Artist: Nicolas Lancret
Title: The Swing
Date: c. 1730
Medium: Oil on canvas
Victoria and Albert Museum
Lancret created this painting in the 1730s to show off his ability to paint genre settings with outdoor figures. It contains a woman being pulled on a swing by a man in an unknown wooded area. Both figures are in clothes that show they are of a higher social class. The woman is looking away from the man and slightly blushing while he looks intently at her. This encounter is hinting at sexual desires between the couple. Lancret most likely created this painting to be used as a decoration in a noble persons house.
Artist: Francisco Goya
Title: The Swing
Date: 1779
Medium: Oil on canvas
Museo Nacional del Prado
This painting is one of Francisco Goya lesser known works. It is a genre painting and was done in the romanticism style. The painting is Spanish and slightly different from the French paintings. The focal point is a woman on a swing surrounded by several children. There is a young boy pulling the swing but several men are watching in the background who are interested onlookers. The children represent the woman's fertility and they are there to show that she cares about them and enjoys spending time with them. Like the French paintings, the woman is a noble woman who is in a corseted dress that is showing off her small waist. There is another woman in plainer clothing who is there to watch the children.
Artist: Hubert Robert
Title: The Swing
Date: c. 1780
Medium: Oil on canvas
17.190.27
Robert was hired to create several pieces to decorate a house of a royal subjects. The Swing contains ten figures watching a girl swing being pulled by the man. The majority of the viewers are looking intently at the girl in the air and even the dog and statue in the painting have their heads towards her. The statue in the background was created by Robert and has his name engraved in the bottom. The people in the painting are all in nice clothes so viewers know they are of a higher social class. The men appear relaxed but the women seem to be distressed by the scene and the girl on the swing does not look like she is enjoying herself.
Artist: Pierre-Auguste Cot
Title: Springtime
Date: 1873
Medium: Oil on canvas
2012.575
Cot paints a picture of a man with a woman draped across him sitting closely on a swing. This romantic image is created with oil paints on canvas and titled Springtime which explains the lush green forest surrounding the swing. The woman is draped across the man and is facing outward. Although her face is clearly forward, her blue eyes are looking up towards the man she is with. The the pair is a “nubile couple” which means that they are created to look sexually attractive or the woman is mature and ready for marriage. The woman is created to look more angelic and godlike while the man looks like an average person.
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