Watteau and Fragonard

Antoine Watteau (1684–1721) invented the fête galante — paintings of elegantly dressed figures in idealized parkland settings. His Pilgrimage to the Island of Cythera (1717) shows couples wandering toward Venus's island in a hazy, melancholic field. It's beautiful but tinged with sadness — the party is already ending.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806) painted the Rococo's most famous image: The Swing (1767). A young woman kicks her slipper toward a hidden lover while an older man — her unwitting husband — pushes her swing. The painting's patron originally asked for a bishop at the ropes, but Fragonard swapped in a layman, leaving a playful, scandalous composition that captures the era's blend of elegance and mischief.