Rococo art emerged in France as a decorative art used in interior design and gardens. Painters began to adopt the style in the early eighteenth century. French royalty and the elite embraced artwork that celebrated love, leisure, and fashion in a way that was light, sumptuous, and even erotic. Rococo paintings decorated rooms in ornate homes of the aristocracy where members of high society would gather for intellectual discussions and entertainment. Rococo artists used loose brush strokes, pastel colors, and flowing lines and forms in their compositions, regardless of a painting’s subject matter. Many Rococo paintings are asymmetrical, meaning the design or overall composition is off-center. One of the most notable rococo artists was Jean-Honoré Fragonard. He was born in the Provençal city of Grasse in 1732 and moved with his family to Paris in 1738. He spent some time in the busy studio of François Boucher before successfully competing for the Prix de Rome in 1752, he then pursued studies at the École Royale des Élèves Protégés in Paris and followed the standard training for a history painter. According to the National Gallery of Art online edition, Fragonard presented his painting Coresus and Callirhoe at the Salon of 1765. The painting now on display at the Louvre “seemed to herald his arrival as the most promising history painter of his generation.” However, he chose not to do French Historical paintings. According to the National Gallery of Art, Fragonard was not properly paid for his painting by the Crown, which may have motivated him to concentrate on painting for private collectors. A few of his notable paintings are The Swing, The Blind Man’s Bluff, A Young Girl Reading, and The Stolen Kiss.
The Swing, also known as Happy Hazards of The Swing, currently part of the Wallace Collection in London, is considered to be one of the best examples of rococo art. It was commissioned by the French libertine Baron de St. Julien as a portrait of his mistress, He wanted the Madame seated on a swing being pushed by a Bishop. While this request was turned down by other painters such as Doyen, a painter of more serious historical subjects, Fragonard took up the request, producing what became the most iconic work of the French Rococo. According to Davies, The Swing is composed in a triangular shape, with the Baron and the husband forming the base of the triangle, and the woman in the air at the top of the triangle, in the center of the space. In the background of the composition one can see what was originally going to be the Bishop requested by the Baron, but was changed to the mistress’s husband by Fragonard. The husband plays a lesser role, being immersed in shadow while the Baron is illuminated under the maiden’s dress. The figures in the painting have also been made large. According to Jennifer Milam,” the figures in Happy Hazards are quite large, and in significant areas the tree, leaves, and flowers are carefully delineated. Seemingly existing to support and enhance meaning in the figures’ actions, the garden setting in this painting appears artificial and stage-like. Even the overgrown bushes in which the young man hides himself appear more like a prop than a convincing feature of landscaped nature, so much so that his hat is positioned to cap part of the flowering bush.” This had been done to add emphasis on what was going on between the figures instead of the scenery. The painted sculpture of a cupid to the left, holding a finger to his lips, suggests the conspiracy in the erotic escapade. Fragonard used painted sculpture in many of his works to echo or reinforce their themes.
The Blind Man’s Bluff, located at the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio, is a portrayal of a game that was popular in France. It became the symbolic arena for courtship, chance, and the amorous amusements of lovers. Fragonard, who sets the scene within a garden, develops the theme of the nature of youthful love by ornamenting his composition with spring flowers. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, artists and authors used blind-man’s buff as a symbol of the folly of marriage, where one took one’s chances in choosing a mate. In Fragonard’s portrayal, however, because only one couple plays the game, neither the partner or the outcome is in doubt. According to the Toledo Museum, “As the lover tickles his beloved on the cheek with a piece of straw, an infant Love brushes her hand with the end of a stick. These teasing gestures are meant to lead or distract the woman to or from the object of her desire. Reaching out to locate her lover, the woman steals a glance from underneath her blindfold and catches the beholder’s gaze.” It was painted in the style and spirit of Fragonard’s master François Boucher, which can be seen in the ornamental flourishes of flowers and trees.
A Young Girl Reading is one of Fragonard’s most simple yet elegant paintings. It is on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. 1769, Fragonard married Marie-Anne Gérard, who was also from the city of Grasse. After getting married, Fragonard found a renewed interest in quiet domestic scenes and toned down on the erotic themes of his work. He had done a series of paintings that historians refer to as “Figures de Fantaisie” which are all half-length portraits of men and woman of the same dimensions and dressed in what appears to be Spanish clothing. Young Girl Reading is one of his most successful in the subject. Fragonard’s skill in capturing the delicacies of a domestic scene and the subtleties of femininity is evident in Young Girl Reading. The painting features an unidentified girl depicted in profile, reading from a small book held in her right hand, sitting with her left arm on a wooden rail and her back supported by a large lilac cushion resting against a wall. Her hair is tied up in a chignon with a purple ribbon, and her face and dress are lit from the front, casting a shadow in the wall behind her. Fragonard pays close attention to the face, but uses looser brushwork on the dress and cushion. The horizontal line of the armrest and a vertical line between two unadorned walls provide a sense of space and structure. According to Davies, Fragonard supplies visual interest to the portrait’s composition by juxtaposing geographical structure in the background with the soft curves and frills in the foreground, and the figure herself. The brown wall in the background provides a strong vertical structure, which combined with the horizontal bar of the armrest gives solidity to the composition. The girl contrasts this with how soft she appears and the delicate ruffles and bows in her clothing. The girl’s golden yellow dress stands out and pulls the composition together, though it is supported by other tones of gold which is typical of Rococo painting. The flesh hues are warm and rosy, as well as the violet colored pillow the girl is leaning against.
The Stolen Kiss, now located at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia explores the theme of secretive romance and passionate moments grabbed in a fleeting moment. The painting depicts a kiss between two lovers, showing a young lady in creme colored silk gown who has left her party for a secret meeting with a young man. According to Davies, the young woman is leaning in for the kiss while at the same time looking away back towards the other members of the party in the next room over. This painting combines the playfully erotic subject matter of his earlier works with a newfound sobriety of composition and attention to detail. According to Tom Lubbock,” there is a more intimate journey, moving along her own self. It begins from the start of her kiss; it concludes at the end of her wrap. It establishes a very long diagonal and continuous gesture of both body and fabric. It is her dominant story, and it shows us how her conscience operates under pressure.” The composition is diagonal, made up by an axis composed through her leaning figure, the shawl and the balcony door opening from the outside, ending with the table the shawl is draped over. The woman is the focus, her facial expression emphasizing the secretive nature of the action. The eye naturally stars at her face and wanders down the diagonal line that she creates. The painting offers an array of compositional contrasts between colors and shadows. The colors utilized fall within the typical Rococo palette, belonging to the family of pastel fabrics, creamy skin tones and rich golden tones to the wood that defines the background. As the focus of the composition, the young woman is illuminated, the folds of her gown and her fair skin are highlighted by a direct light. The shadows of the background emphasize the illicit affair that is going on, separating the lovers from the rest of the party to the right of the painting, dimly visible through the open door. Fragonard used more precise brushstrokes than in his earlier pieces. The brushstroke still retains its fluidity however, evident in the curves of the woman’s arm and the delicate drapery of the fabric.
Fragonard was one of the leaders of the rococo movement in art, his paintings were all very colorful and frivolous. The mood of his works is light-hearted and uses soft colors which make the work look decorative and appealing to the viewer and is concerned with the pleasure. Many of his paintings were asymmetrical, meaning the design or overall composition is off-center, which was very common in Rococo art.