The Happy Accident of the Swing

Prints and Drawings

1792

Nicolas Delaunay (French, 1739-1792)
after Jean Honoré Fragonard (French, 1732-1806)

Fragonard painted his masterpiece, The Swing after another artist had refused the risqué commission offered by a gentleman of the English court who wanted a portrait of himself surreptitiously observing his mistress on a swing. The result epitomized the themes and unapologetically decorative flounces of the Rococo style. In this print the airy textures of the painting have been transformed into elegantly engraved patterns befitting the motion, outdoor setting, and eroticism of the scene.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Prints and Drawings

Artist: Nicolas Delaunay
Title: The Happy Accident of the Swing
Place: France (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: Made 1792
Medium: Engraving in black ink on ivory laid paper
Dimensions: Image/plate: 58.2 × 42.5 cm (22 15/16 × 16 3/4 in.); Sheet: 60.2 × 44.5 cm (23 3/4 × 17 9/16 in.)
Credit Line: Gift of the Print and Drawing Club
Reference Number: 1926.922
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/111848/manifest.json

Lawrence & Dighton 85 III/VII

Fonds Français 233

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.