The Swing...
6:22 p.m.
The swing, by Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1767)
Technique: oil on canvas / Measures: 81 x 64.2 cm
The Wallace Collection - London
Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732-1806) received specific guidelines from Baron St Julien to paint The Swing. The painting had to represent his lover on a swing pushed by a Bishop. Such requirement made various well-known artists of the day decline the work. Fragonard however was not so popular back then, so he takes the job, thus producing the most iconic example of French Rococo.
On the canvas we can see the Baron reaching to touch the dress of his lover, trying to have a glimse of her intimate parts. The lady is almost flying and loses one shoe. Behind her there's a male figure who, at first, was to be a Bishop. However, it was finally decided to incorporate her husband, in a secondary role, almost in shadows, contrasting the Baron.
Fragonard was able to capture the total spontaneity of the scene, while picturing all the iconic situations of Rococo Art: the careless attitude, a touch of erotism, pastel coloring and the young beauty of the participants.
Fragonard, probably an admirer of Peter Paul Rubens, found inspiration in the Dutch artist, picturing each detail with outmost care, with free and dynamic brushstrokes.
The Swing, by Nathalie Djurberg (2005)
Video (color, sound), Ed. 4/4
Duracion: 5 min. 35 sec.
The Rubell Family Collection - Miami
Nathalie Djurberg (Sweden, 1978) studied Fragonard's work and was particularly interested in the way the artist portrayed the sexual tensions between the characters. She mixed sculpture, animation and sound, creating a scene in which we see the human desires, with no concealments or symbolism.
Djurberg, who received the Silver Lion as Best Young Artist at Venice 2009 Biennial, has been producing this type of movies since 2001. She usually creates clay puppets to dramatize our most natural instints: jealousy, wrath, lust. Composer and musician Hans Berg creates the proper atmospheres required by the artist. They both give birth to these grotesque and nightmare-ish productions, in which all of the emotions flourish.
What Rococo Art barely suggested, Contemporary Art displays brutally.
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