"Swan Attacked by a Dog" - Jean Baptiste Oudry

"Swan Attacked by a Dog" - Jean Baptiste Oudry

Experience and inspiration are what influence artists to create motifs that capture the essence of their everyday life. Jean Baptiste Oudry was born in Paris, France on March 17th, 1686 and died on April 30th, 1755. The era which Oudry was active in a time when monarchy held absolute reign and waged several military campaigns against other nations. As France was occupied with politics and war, within the nation’s borders was another motion emerging from patrons of art. During the late 17th to early 18th century, a movement of Rococo art developed to capture a graceful and florid approach to a piece while maintaining ornate, asymmetric design. Jean Baptiste Oudry was no exception; however unlike others in his time, the subjects in most of his pieces were animals rather than people. In his painting, “Swan Attacked by a Dog”, Oudry may have intended to represent social class with these figures to introduce the idea that the lower class citizens are growing agitated at the higher class nobles and royalty. In this particular piece, the artist creates a scene where a beautiful, white swan is cornered and attacked by a vicious dog. Although what’s happening in the piece is depressing, Oudry stays within the context of Rococo art as the painting is alluring and elegant from its subtle colors and saturation of shadows. In order to understand the artist’s point of view in society, we need to explore the history of 18th century France and the culture of art during the era.

The Conversion of St. Paul, an example of Baroque art

Before the rise in popularity of Rococo art style, the primary art of France was Baroque. This style was meant to express qualities that are considered symmetrical, grandeur, dramatic and exuberant. Additionally, under the reign of Louis XIV, Baroque art was advocated by the monarch as a testament to glorifying France and his name. However, in response to this, artists from across the country adopted an art style that stimulated characteristics opposite to Baroque. As mentioned earlier, Rococo art possesses jocular, graceful, and florid themes that allow the piece to maintain ornate and asymmetric designs. While most Rococo pieces were associated with decoration and structures, paintings of the art style exhibit delicate colors and curving forms that give the piece its elegance and whimsy. Painters often depicted scenes that were intimately detailed and concentrated on mythology, portraiture, and daily life. These aspects are prevalent in “The Swan Attacked by a Dog” as Oudry was quite the adept Rococo artist.

Rococo portraiture

Jean Baptiste Oudry was surrounded by art for all of his life. His father was well adept in the arts being an artist, art dealer, and the director of Académie de St-Luc art school. Oudry would later join his father’s school and was taught the technical aspects of art. In addition to the prestigious lifestyle of Oudry, the artist was received tutelage from two notable artist. One was Michel Serre, who specialized in Baroque and religious paintings. The second was an artist by the name of Nicolas de Largillière, who was a practitioner of the Rococo art style. It was with Largillière that Oudry adopted the Rococo art style and later refined his sense of color and imagery. Oudry also developed his skills in still life and portraiture under his apprenticeship with Largillière. From his studies and experience with the Rococo artist, Oudry focused his rendition of the style on depictions of animals, hunting, and landscapes. Throughout his career, Jean Baptiste Oudry had several opportunities that expanded his name in the arts as well as to international markets. Jean became a member of the Académie de Peinture et de Sculpture in 1719 and eventually a professor at the institute in 1743. The artist also had a hand in designing tapestry. His success in tapestry and decorative arts would later have him made director of Beauvais and Gobelins manufactory due to his influence on the subject. With numerous titles and noteworthy accomplishments, Oudry was commissioned to create artwork for significant figures of society. Some of his clientele included King Louis XV, Czar Peter the Great of Russia, the Queen of Sweden, and Grand Duke Friedrich of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Of course with a massive following and fame, Oudry was overwhelmed with the amount of requests and commissions. To compound the frustration Jean Baptiste may have felt, his homeland was having less welcoming interactions with other European territories.



Throughout the early 18th century, the French had militaristic involvement in wars against countries such as Austria, Poland, and Spain. Those events were the War of the Quadruple Alliance, the War of the Polish Succession, and the War of the Austrian Succession.



With the Quadruple Alliance, which took place from 1718 to 1720, France joined a coalition with Britain, Austria, and the Dutch Republic in an effort to prevent Spain from claiming territories in Italy and the French throne. The result of this campaign was that victory was upon the alliance and Spain renouncing its actions and claims. During the Polish War from 1733 to 1738, the France had an anti-Habsburg alliance with Spain and Poland and declared war against Austria. The anti-Habsburg alliance wanted Stanislaw I Leszczynski on Poland’s throne whereas Russia and Austria wanted the previous king’s son to succeed to the throne. From this endeavor France and Austria signed the Treaty of Vienna, which was an agreement with France accepting the Austrian choice of the Polish throne and preliminary peace. However this tranquility wouldn’t last long as the French was a part of the War of the Austrian Succession from 1740 to 1748. Since their initial partnership during the Quadruple Alliance, Austria later became one of France’s long term enemies as the two held opposite ideals during the War of Polish Succession.

Battle of Fontenoy 1745, War of the Austrian Succession

As the Austrians were wrapped in their own War of Succession, the French saw an opportunity to weaken and destroy one of their European rivals. This backfired on the French as the Austrians called upon their British alliance and thus creating more obstacles and struggle for France. Eventually in 1748, both countries restore peace with the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. However, while for the most part France has had some successes and defeats from these skirmishes, the constant tension and propaganda that arose from these situations should have caused the nation’s citizens to have varying opinions that would lead to supporting or opposing those campaigns or rather create confusion among its populace.



With the implication of political and military activity circulating throughout much of the 18th century France, it would not be surprising to have artists utilize the status of the nation to illustrate ideals and motifs. During the 1700s, patrons in the arts craved pieces that depicted depth into raw emotions ranging from happiness to melancholy. Following an article on Eighteenth century French art written by Linda Walsh, she quotes a man by the name of Peter Gay that, “sensibility all too often degenerate into sentimentality and easy tears conveniently blinded the eyes of men and women reluctant to confront the realities of their times or their own lives”. She then elaborates and states that, “...passion and sentiment were regarded as feelings of a higher order than sensation, which was seen as a more rudimentary response of the senses to stimuli”. It is obvious that based on these two quotes, 18th century artists convey their zeal whether or not their audience can perceive those notions. As France dwindled it resources and armies on militaristic strifes, the nobility exploited the labor of the lower class and fostered the hatred in their fellow citizens. The abundance of emotion and frustration is more than enough for an artist like Oudry to draw upon. By knowing the context of Rococo art, historical events of 18th century France and topics often captured by artists, I can understand the relation of the subjects in Oudry’s “Swan Attacked by a Dog” with the distinction of social classes of the time.

This specific artwork showcases a swan forced into corner and assaulted by a canine on the hunt. Oudry created the scene in explicit detail in the ambiance, with significant attention to shadows and the expressions of the animals. The pheasant is shown with fright and is trying to sway its attacker away as it is backed into a dark corner. While observing the swan, the bird expands its wings in the effort to scare and dismiss the assailant. I researched for information regarding the symbolism of swans and found that it represents innocence, grace, balance, and divinity. Thus this leads me to correlate the swan as the upper class and royalty.

The hound demonstrates an aggressive demeanor by snarling at its prey. With closer examination of the dog, anyone can tell that the predator is attacking out of desperation. Looking at the ribs and belly of the dog, it’s obvious that this figure is meant to represent people of the lower, serving class. Dogs are a symbol of loyalty and guardians when their masters are faced with dangers. I concur that the dog is meant to be an extension of the poorer citizens of France taking out their frustration against the nobles and monarchs as they are trying to support themselves and their families while working for them.


 By portraying these two beasts confronting each other, Jean Baptiste Oudry emulates the annoyance of the working class has with high society during the times of war and oppression.

“Swan Attacked by a Dog” is a work of art that captures animals in intense realism and intertwines the notions of his society with the two figures. While Jean Baptiste Oudry was known for creating pieces of art that illustrate animals and hunting scenes, artists during the eighteenth century often represented their pieces with sentiment of their surroundings. Exploring the historical and social aspects of France in the 1700s can enlighten anyone to understanding the irritation that looms over the country implied by this particular piece. Jean Baptiste Oudry’s mission with this painting was to call out to his fellow countrymen on the frustration he and many others felt upon the luxury of the rich and royals.

Citation
Walsh, Linda. “The Expressive Face: Manifestation of Sensibility in Eighteenth-Century French Art.” Art History 19.4 (1996): 523–550. Web. 9 Nov. 2015.

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