Swing in exultation

THE most iconic painting of the Rococo age is swinging back into frame looking better than ever, after a summer of technical analysis and conservation (right, mid clean). As of yesterday, Fragonard’s Les hasards heureux de l’escarpolette (The Swing) (1767–68) is back at the Wallace Collection, London W1, in a relit gallery alongside seven other paintings by the artist for the first time—the largest collection in Europe outside France.

Playful and candy-coloured, The Swing is one of the most popular paintings at the museum and is frequently referenced in literature, art, design and cinema, even featuring in Disney’s Frozen, despite the fact that mystery surrounds its ‘scandalous’ subject. One theory is that the commission came from a gentleman wishing to depict a moment where he, lying in a rose bush, peeps up his mistress’s skirt as she swings in abandon, skirts flying and one pink slipper rocketing from a pointed foot towards a marble Cupid. Accompanying events include talks, a book signing and a film exploring the painting’s influence. Visit www.wallacecollection. org/the-swing

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery: Iain Andrews’s watercolour Garden Study (After Fragonard) is among 520 lots in the latest Art on a Postcard online auction, in its 20thanniversary year, which raises money for the Hepatitis C Trust. The Winter Auction runs from tomorrow to November 25 (www.artonapostcard.com)