The Swing Analysis Paper

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The painting I have chosen to do my formal analysis on is The Swing by Jean-Honore Fragonard. They made this painting in 1767 with oil paint on a 81 x 64 cm canvas. The title of the piece relates to the painting because there is a woman swinging. The subject matter of this work is a woman in the swing in a forest or garden with two men accompanying her. This painting is also very realistic due to the angling of light and shadows. The woman stands out not only because she is in the center but also because of how the light hits her and the color of her outfit and skin compared to the rest of the painting. In this painting it also seems like going to this location is a part of their daily life. Right when I look at this painting, I can see some important lines. For example, I can see an implied line connecting her kicking foot to her shoe. This tells the viewer that she kicked off her shoes or that it had come loose when she was swinging and fell off. I can also see an implied line with the statue on the left side of the painting and her shoe, the eyes of the statue as if looking at her shoe. I can also see another implied line of statue underneath the women, where it appears that the statue is looking at the women. Both of these implied lines tell me that the women swinging attracts the attention of …show more content…

For example, when looking at the tree or the leaves there is a rough texture to show the viewer that it is a more natural thing that is not perfect to mimic actual trees. When looking at the figures, they look more smooth and soft, especially the women who look almost porcelain. I can faintly see a pattern on where the statue on the left of the painting stands, which is a bunch of dots in a line. The artist does create movement in this picture because you can see the dress swooshing in the wind from her swing. I can also see that time is incorporated in this painting because time is

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