Les Hazards heureux de l'Escarpolettes (The Swing)

probably 1782

Nicolas Delaunay after Jean-Honoré Fragonard and Pierre-Philippe Choffard

Associated Names
Nicolas Delaunay

Artist, French, 1739 - 1792

Jean Honoré Fragonard

Artist After, French, 1732 - 1806

Pierre-Philippe Choffard

Artist After, French, 1730 - 1809

This is a print of a garden scene with three people. In the center is an elegantly dressed woman on a swing. She is facing the right and wearing a flowing gown with a low neckline, a ruffle around her neck, and a plumed hat. She is holding the ropes of the swing and kicking her feet up, and one of her shoes is flying off of her outstretched foot. Behind her on the left, a man is holding long ropes connected to the swing, and on the right a man lays on the ground below the woman. Both men have white hair that curls around their ears, and they wear jackets with white cravats and have black hats near them. Surrounding these three people is a garden with lush, leafy plants and several statues of cherubic figures. Below the print is a line of text and a design that looks like a shield or emblem.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    etching and engraving on laid paper

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    sheet: 62.1 × 46.9 cm (24 7/16 × 18 7/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1942.9.2315

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Portalis/Beraldi 1880, no. 12

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Joseph E. Widener [1871-1943], Elkins Park, PA; gift to NGA, 1942.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1947

  • The Art of France in Prints and Books, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1947-1948, no cat.

1978

  • French Printmaking in the Time of Fragonard and Robert, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1978-1979, no cat.

2024

  • Suchitra Mattai: Myth from Matter, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC, September 20, 2024-January 12, 2025: no cat. no., repro.

Bibliography

1880

  • Portalis, baron Roger and Henri Beraldi. Les graveurs du dix-huitieme siecle. 2 parts, 3 vols. each part. Paris, 1880.

1987

  • Taylor, Sean J. "Pendants and Commercial Ploys: Formal and Informal Relationships in the Work of Nicolas Delaunay." Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschicte 50, no 4(1987): 509-538.

2024

  • Lynch, Elizabeth, and Gregory, Alicia, editors. Suchitra Mattai: Myth from Matter. Exh. cat. National Museum of Women and the Arts, Washington, D.C., 2024-2025: 65, color repro.

Inscriptions

recto: in plate, below image, at left: Peint par H. Fragonare [sic], de l'Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture; in plate, below image, at right: Gravé par N. De Launay, de la mème Académie, et de celle des arts de Dannenmarck; in plate, below image, at center: LES HAZARDS HEUREUX DE L'ESCARPOLETTES; in plate, at bottom center, below vignette: P. P. Choffard del. / N. De Launay sc. L'Armoire; verso: at bottom right, in graphite, in later hand: K178 [circled] / Fr. 92

Wikidata ID

Q64960728

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