Genieve Figgis
"The Swing after Fragonard"
31" x 23", archival giclée print
Signed edition of 50
$300
Widely regarded as a masterpiece of the French Rococo, Fragonard's The Swing is reconsidered here by painter Genieve Figgis. This classic vignette–a lively afternoon in the countryside filled with sexual innuendo–seems light-hearted, but the painting’s backstory of a courtier seeking an artist to portray his mistress at play reveals a darker side. Says Figgis, "I have always loved this Fragonard painting. It's fun and beautiful and takes you off to another time and place. I was thinking about the swing in relation to Evelyn Nesbit (“The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing”), her connection to Stanford White and their tragic love triangle. History and all its stories are romanticized. It was a great excuse to make a painting that I wanted to experience with the knowledge of what came after."
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