HOUDON, Jean-Antoine

Antoine Louis Le F�vre de Caumartin, marquis de Saint-Ange (1725-1803) was the impecunious heir to an old family of magistrates and royal administrators. He had a distinguished career under the ancien r�gime. He was intendant at Metz for two years and in Flanders and Artois for twenty-two years. In 1778, Louis XVI had him elected the mayor of Paris, which he retained until 1784. While in office, Caumartin sponsored an urbanization project that led to the creation of a housing district between the old church of Madeleine and the Chass�e d’Antin, where today a street bears his name.

A portrait of his wife was painted by Jean-Marc Nattier.

This keen-eyed mischievous-looking boy is Alexandre Brongniart, son of the architect Alexandre Th�odore Brongniart (1739-1813). It seems fitting that the popularity of this bust, existing also in terracotta and bronze, should have extended to its manufacture in S�vres porcelain, since the adult Alexandre was to become director of the S�vres factory.

This plaster bust represents the daughter of the artist. She is very young, hardly more than a baby.

If mythology and allegory were not best suited to be illustrated by Houdon this was not because he lived in an age of reason, but because his working methods largely dispensed with imagination altogether. Increasingly driven to be a sculptor of portrait busts, he first publicly revealed his abilities with the Diderot - shown at the Salon of 1771 - the first of his own personal series of ‘grands hommes’. The breathing quality of this is more exciting and immediate than in many of Houdon’s later busts. Regardless of its likeness to Diderot, it remains lifelike. The pupils of the eyes are deeply cut, dark, and extraordinarily impressive, and the mouth is open - an effect Houdon did not often use again for busts of adults but sometimes for children. The inquiring twist of the head emphasizes another of Houdon’s gifts of observation: that character can be conveyed by the way the head is held on the neck. The neck itself, in the Diderot just wrinkled as the head turns, becomes an object of study to the sculptor.

Part of the power of Diderot comes from its simple directness and lack of accessories. Its nobleness has a naked quality, a candour, that perfectly suits the sitter. Perceptive and yet childishly enthusiastic, marked by life and yet still innocent, Diderot seems here the very image of his writings.

In 1785, Houdon traveled to the newly liberated country of America and made many dignified busts of the leaders of that revolution, including Washington and Jefferson.

Houdon was the foremost French sculptor of the second half of the 18th century and one of the outstanding portrait sculptors in the history of art. Although he created a number of works on Classical themes, he is best known for his remarkably vivid busts and statues of his famous contemporaries, many of which exist in several versions.

Not singled out for special treatment during the ancien r�gime, Houdon did not enjoyed any particularly outstanding success under Napoleon. Although his was perhaps the finest bust to be produced of the emperor, it is rivaled by the sharply observant bust of General Bonaparte (1799, Lille) by Charles-Louis Corbet (1753-1808).

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 51 minutes):

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 (Eroica) in E Flat major op. 55 (1803)

In 1785, Houdon traveled to the newly liberated country of America and made many dignified busts of the leaders of that revolution, including Washington and Jefferson.

The fine bust of Jefferson shows a statesman. The tautness of the features, the slight tilt of the head make of it something challenging, without exaggeration. Time has been at work on the features too, and subtly does the sculptor hint at the hollowing out of the throat, as more obviously in the sharply chiseled lines down the cheeks.

Houdon did attentive busts of children and friends. Rarely has physiognomical accuracy been more sustained and efficacious.

This busts represents Sabine Houdon (1787-1836) at the age of 4 years. It was probably exhibited at the Salon of 1791.

Marie-Ange-C�cile Langlois (1765 - 1823) married Houdon in 1786.

According to contemporaries, the Comtesse Sabran was charming, lively, and intelligent, all as Houdon conveys in this bust, not least by the device of the sharply-turned head.

Denis Diderot was a French philosopher (seeker of wisdom), playwright, and novelist. He is best known as the editor of the Encyclop�die, a summary of information on all subjects that also questioned the authority of the Catholic Church.

Houdon received his earliest training in apprenticeship to Michelangelo Slodtz; he then went to the �cole des �l�ves Prot�g�s in Paris, before spending four years in Rome. The idea for a statue of Diana leaving for the hunt was conceived in 1776. The marble original intended for the gardens of the Duke of Saxe-Gotha was handed down to Catherine II; from the Hermitage it passed into the Gulbenkian collection in Lisbon. In the bronze version in the Louvre, the tuft of rushes used as a support for the marble statue could be eliminated, enabling Houdon to accentuate the lightness of the figure, which is entirely classical in inspiration.

This statue illustrates the French conception of the smooth and elegant nude, which derives from the School of Fontainebleau.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 19 minutes):

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme

Houdon received his earliest training in apprenticeship to Michelangelo Slodtz; he then went to the �cole des �l�ves Prot�g�s in Paris, before spending four years in Rome. The idea for a statue of Diana leaving for the hunt was conceived in 1776. The marble original intended for the gardens of the Duke of Saxe-Gotha was handed down to Catherine II; from the Hermitage it passed into the Gulbenkian collection in Lisbon. In the bronze version in the Louvre, the tuft of rushes used as a support for the marble statue could be eliminated, enabling Houdon to accentuate the lightness of the figure, which is entirely classical in inspiration.

This statue illustrates the French conception of the smooth and elegant nude, which derives from the School of Fontainebleau.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 19 minutes):

Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme

A commission for a statue of St John the Baptist for Santa Maria degli Angeli (plaster; Rome, Galleria Borghese) was the occasion for the production of Houdon’s famous statue of a Flayed Man or Ecorch� au bras tendu (plaster version, Schloss Friedenstein, Gotha; later and modified bronze version, �cole Nationale Sup�rieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris). It bears witness to Houdon’s other great source of inspiration - study from nature.

A commission for a statue of St John the Baptist for Santa Maria degli Angeli (plaster; Rome, Galleria Borghese) was the occasion for the production of Houdon’s famous statue of a Flayed Man or Ecorch� au bras tendu (plaster version, Schloss Friedenstein, Gotha; later and modified bronze version, �cole Nationale Sup�rieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris). It bears witness to Houdon’s other great source of inspiration - study from nature.

Charles Fran�ois Dumouriez (1739-1823) was a French general of the French Revolutionary Wars; he shared the victory at Valmy with General Kellermann, and later deserted the Revolutionary Army.

Commissioned by the parliament of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson had ordered the statue direct from the sculptor, who had then traveled to America in the company of Benjamin Franklin to make Washington’s likeness. Jefferson placed particular emphasis on Washington being presented lifesize: there was to be no exaggeration, and he was not to appear divine or regal, but just as the first among equals, the statesman citizen.

Louise, born in 1770, was the daughter of the architect Alexandre-Th�odore Brongniart, and the sister of Alexandre, the future director of the manufacture of S�vres.

Madame de S�rilly was eighteen when this bust was made. Seven years later, she escaped the guillotine only by alleging pregnancy. The panelling from her Parisian boudoir is preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

This work is ambiguously executed. It is in some respects meticulously detailed, as in the fine lace of the d�colletage, for example, but elsewhere, such as in the drapery or face, the composition is overly finished and highly stylised.

Joseph J�r�me Lalande (1732-1807) was a French astronomer and writer.

Houdon made over 150 portrait busts of the great men and women of his age, combining psychological perception with analytical reason to bring out the individual character of each sitter. His portraits of important Americans remain definitive. He portrayed Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson in Paris and visited the young United States to prepare for his marble statue of George Washington, now in Richmond. Robert Fulton, an inventor, artist, and engineer best known for having proved the commercial practicality of the steamboat, lived in Paris on and off from 1797 before returning to America in 1806. He made his first steamboat test on the Seine in 1803; he also invented a submarine, the Nautilus, while still in France, although he was unable to get support from the French or American governments for its development.

This is a tenderly realized portrait bust of the sculptor’s ten-month-old eldest daughter Sabine (1787-1836). At that time it was unusual to fashion portraits of children of such a young age. Houdon made two other busts of Sabine, both when she was a four-year-old.

The bust was presented at the Salon of 1788 without identifying the sitter.

One of the first sculptures to reflect the Neoclassical orientation was Houdon’s St Bruno, a work commissioned by the Carthusian monks at Santa Maria degli Angeli in 1766. As a former pupil of Slodtz, Houdon would have studied his master’s St Bruno in St Peter’s in Rome, but the differences between the two works are more significant than any similarities. No props are employed by Houdon and the drapery has been scaled down to a few synchronized folds; the work’s power resides in its very concentration, the rapt gaze of the saint summing up much of the Carthusian ideal.

A nobleman commissioned Houdon to sculpt two allegorical figures, Winter and Summer. The marble figures goes back to a series of models of allegorical representations of summer and winter.

The statue of Voltaire - with the Diana, one of Houdon’s finest works - was executed at the request of Madame Denis, Voltaire’s niece, who gave one marble version to the Com�die Fran�aise. A second marble copy was commissioned from the artist by Catherine II. There is also a terracotta version in the Mus�e Fabre, Montpellier.

Houdon’s sculpture depicts the great Enlightenment figure as a philosopher.

The statue of Voltaire - with the Diana, one of Houdon’s finest works - was executed at the request of Madame Denis, Voltaire’s niece, who gave one marble version to the Com�die Fran�aise. A second marble copy was commissioned from the artist by Catherine II. The work in the Montpellier museum is a terra-cotta cast done after the original plaster model and touched up by Houdon. The sarcastic smile and sharp sparkling eyes animate the features of the old philosopher of Ferney, whom the sculptor was able to study when Voltaire visited Paris in 1778.

The composition of this figure, one of Houdon’s most arresting nude figures, may date as early as 1781, when Houdon proposed to make pendant figures of winter and summer. A small terracotta for Winter in the Mus�e Fabre, Montpellier, appears to be his first essay in the subject. Winter (also called La Frileuse) is conceived as a nude woman who has pulled a shawl over head and torso, leaving her naked from the waist down. Summer wears a shift and holds a sheaf of wheat and a watering can. Marble versions of Winter and its pendant were exhibited at the Salon of 1783 Both marbles are now in the Mus�e Fabre. The bronze version was cast in 1787, a date inscribed on the base.

Houdon conveys a strong sense of the bitterness of winter’s weather, but also gave him a golden opportunity to reveal a girl’s naked charms. The revelation of the nude female body is what makes Winter so attractive in marble, bronze, and other versions - as alluring from behind as from the front.

The marble figure goes back to a series of models of allegorical representations of summer and winter. Unlike Baroque allegories of winter in the shape of an old man or woman warming him/herself at the fire, Houdon opted for the figure of a young girl. She has wrapped a cloth round her head and upper body, while her abdomen and legs are nude. The closed leg posture goes back to the ancient motif of ‘Venus pudica’, but the nakedness of part of the body is a consistent element of the allegory of winter. Ultimately, Houdon uses these starting points as a justification for creating a very erotic sculpture, which soon acquired great popularity.

The marble figure goes back to a series of models of allegorical representations of summer and winter. Unlike Baroque allegories of winter in the shape of an old man or woman warming him/herself at the fire, Houdon opted for the figure of a young girl. She has wrapped a cloth round her head and upper body, while her abdomen and legs are nude. The closed leg posture goes back to the ancient motif of ‘Venus pudica’, but the nakedness of part of the body is a consistent element of the allegory of winter. Ultimately, Houdon uses these starting points as a justification for creating a very erotic sculpture, which soon acquired great popularity.

The marble figure goes back to a series of models of allegorical representations of summer and winter. Unlike Baroque allegories of winter in the shape of an old man or woman warming him/herself at the fire, Houdon opted for the figure of a young girl. She has wrapped a cloth round her head and upper body, while her abdomen and legs are nude. The closed leg posture goes back to the ancient motif of ‘Venus pudica’, but the nakedness of part of the body is a consistent element of the allegory of winter. Ultimately, Houdon uses these starting points as a justification for creating a very erotic sculpture, which soon acquired great popularity.