Jean-Antoine Houdon, bust of George Washington, clay, Mount Vernon, Virginia.
This masterpiece of French 18th-century sculpture belonged to Catherine of Russia, and was on display in the Hermitage Museum.
. After reading 'The New York Review of Books' review of an exhibition at the Liebieghaus, Frankfurt, and at the Musée Fabre, Montpellier, Jean-Antoine Houdon: Die Sinnliche Skulptur (Sensuous Sculpture), I wanted to see an image of Houdon's sculpture Summer that wasn't reproduced in the article (by Willibald Sauerländer). There seem to be quite a few of them of the related work, Winter (below right), which was also reproduced in the magazine, but it took quite a while to come across Summer (below left). I was prompted to do this post because of my current mixed feelings about the change of seasons: having grown up in Finland the seasons there used to have such a profound effect on people - as these two sculptures attest (well, Houdon was of course of the Mediterranean stock; the effect in the Nordic countries was in theory much more severe, but he was on the money regardless). Here in Sydney, we're gradually shifting from a nine month summer towards our three month winter. Houdon's Winter could actually portray ours: we do need something to wrap ourselves with at night, but during the day, when the sun's up, Venus could indeed cope without clothes. From The Best Faces of the Enlightenment, The New York Review of Books, Vol LVII, Number 6, Willibald Sauerländer, translated from German by David Dollenmayer: "For the library of a wealthy royal counselor’s town house in the fashionable Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Houdon created two statues personifying Summer and Winter. The seasons were still a popular motif for eighteenth-century painters, sculptors, writers, and composers—one that gained erotic charge in France during the time of the Marquise de Pompadour. Yet here that motif was as good as reinvented by Houdon. In his enchanting depiction of Summer, the Ceres of antiquity is transformed into a lovely gardener. A wreath of flowers and wheat adorns her hair. In her right hand she carries a sickle, a sheaf of grain, and poppies; in her left a prosaic watering can. Instead of neoclassical personification, Houdon gives us a slice of nature. The charming face of the young woman resembles the artist’s new bride, Marie-Ange Cécile Langlois. Houdon did not portray all four seasons, just Summer and Winter; his challenge was to contrast warmth and cold, flowers and frost. Ceres transformed into a gardener is followed by Venus shivering in the winter cold. Her lovely young body—is it Marie-Ange Cécile once again?—is unclothed except for the wrap thrown over her head and shoulders. On the ground at her feet is a cracked vase whose exterior is covered with spilled water, turned to ice. Perhaps the exhibition catalog is overly learned in its discussion of this bewitching statue. Shivering figures are included in images of winter since antiquity, and Houdon’s statue evokes a phrase that goes back to Terence: “Venus freezes without Ceres and Bacchus.” Mademoiselle Winter is not mourning her lost innocence, she’s just cold!"
«Né pour ainsi dire au pied de l'Académie, dès l'âge de 9 ans, j'ai fait de la sculpture… » : Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828) rappelait ainsi, dans un
Explore Denis Trente-Huittessan's 55033 photos on Flickr!
Jean Antoine Houdon, 1780
Bust, marble, Marquis de Miromesnil, by Jean-Antoine Houdon, French, 1775
anblar and I went to the Smithsonian and the National Gallery over the Christmas break, and I'm a lazy slow picture editor, so I'll... lazily and slowly post these up?
Artist: Jean Antoine Houdon (French, Versailles 1741–1828 Paris). Date: 1782. Culture: French, Paris. Medium: Marble. Dimensions: Overall: 47 x 43 x 28 in...
Jean-Antoine Houdon's statue of George Washington in the rotunda
She is surrounded by myth and intrigue, but over time this Empress of Russia has come to be regarded as one of history's most formidable female leaders.
Artist: Jean Antoine Houdon (French, Versailles 1741–1828 Paris). Date: 1778. Culture: French, Paris. Medium: Marble, on grey marble socle. Dimensions: He...
Artist: Jean Antoine Houdon (French, Versailles 1741–1828 Paris). Date: 1788. Culture: French, Paris. Medium: White marble on gray marble socle. Dimension...
Explore the plaster cast of George Washington's face, made in 1785 by the French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon.
Saravezza marble on gray and white marble base. Head turned slightly to the sitter's left. Contemporary costume coat with standing collar, waistcoat with buttons, stock. Long hair tied at nape of neck; part of bow knot missing.
Jean-Antoine Houdon French, 1741–1828 Life mask of the Marquis de Lafayette, 1785 Johnson Museum of Art
