Comments on: What the Manolo Is…

By: Jenn

Jenn — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 18:49:59 +0000

If you enjoy ‘Dangerous Liasons’ you might find ‘Valmont’ an even better telling of the same tale without the big movie stars to distract from a great story.

By: Mary

Mary — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 03:10:27 +0000

the man pulling the reins is indeed sitting on a bench

By: Tania

Tania — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 20:50:42 +0000

How fussy, the Fragonard swing mechanism! I bet the reins are there to indicate that he is not doing anything so indecorous as, heaven forfend, shoving a lady’s bottom to propel her. (He still, to me, looks as though he is seated on a ledge, and not in any way as if he is leaning forward.) The statues in the painting, incidentally, are also tremendously amusing. The one on the left seems to be putting a finger to its lips as if to say, “Shhhhhhh.”

By: Gidget Bananas

Gidget Bananas — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 20:06:51 +0000

For the VeddyVeddyBadAng — are these shoes not Rococco and festive? http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/7001769/c/42245.html, as are these? http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/5932588/c/35108.html. Indeed, the superfabulous Zappos.com has many of the pleasing mules.

By: VeddyVeddyBadAng

VeddyVeddyBadAng — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 19:27:53 +0000

I couldn’t help but notice that the swing lady is wearing dainty pink closed-toe mules with a kitten heel and a bow on the arch. I don’t think I’ve seen any shoes like that yet. But with the examples of neo-Rococco-ism that the Manolo has shown us lately, perhaps we’ll see them in stores soon? How much fun would that be?

By: Kai Jones

Kai Jones — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 18:49:44 +0000

Tania: the man in the background is not seated, he is bent forward. He is pulling on the reins in order to pull the swing backwards; the swing moves forward like a pendulum. It’s not like pushing your child on a swing, where you stand close and push forward.

By: Madame Butterfly

Madame Butterfly — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 18:45:52 +0000

Ok, I have mud on my face-I guess it helps to read the entry below to realize the Manolo has done the same!

By: Madame Butterfly

Madame Butterfly — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 18:44:54 +0000

I just posted a picture of young women wearing flipflops to meet President Bush.

What a tragedy!!!!

By: woodcock

woodcock — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 18:27:47 +0000

The person pushing the girl is usually considered to be the other boyfriend of the girl in the swing, and sometimes even a priest in the lay clothing. The joke of the picture is that the guy pushing her is unaware of the other fellow looking up her skirt hiding behind the bushes. There is nothing in the picture like a business card that says he is the professional swing pusher. Do not bring in the head of the Marx and get too purposefully upset by the fine art paintings because it will prevent you from enjoying them. The woodcock also recommends that the people read the Rape of the Masters by the Roger Kimball, which documents the weird misreadings of the fine paintings by the ambitious and vain professors of the art history. Thanks for the tip on the de Jean book, the Manolo!

By: Tania

Tania — Tue, 19 Jul 2005 18:22:32 +0000

Oh, that naughty Fragonard swinging lady and her billowing skirts, affording her hidden paramour such a view beyond the shoe! Oh launching shoe, the promise of a further state of wild deshabille!

“J’ai deux amours…”

One thing I have never understood: why is her unwittingly cuckolded fellow in the background seated? And holding reins? It is like no mechanism of swing-mobilization that I have ever seen.