Jean Antoine Houdon (French, Versailles 1741–1828 Paris) Bust of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Hammer Price w/ BP
$778,800
| Lot #: 82 Jean Antoine Houdon (French, Versailles 1741–1828 Paris) Bust of Jean-Jacques Rousseau |
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Seraveza marble. Signed and dated on reverse tranche: “houdon f. 1788” Photoarchived by Lewis P. Woltz in June 1932. Frick Art Reference Library, New York Record #b1099400 Literature: A. L. Poulet, "Jean-Antoine Houdon : sculptor of the Enlightenment," exhibition catalogue, National Gallery, Washington, 2003, p. 170 Reduction, unknown type Paris, Salon cat. 1789, 47, no. 247, under "Tetes en marbre de petite proportion": "J. J. Rousseau." See Les Elves au Salon ou l'Amphigouri (Paris, 1789), 43: "Aux portraits que tu en fais, je les reconnais ces charmants modéles... nos sublimes J. J. Rousseau et Buffon." |
| Ht. 10 4/5 in. |
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Provenance Possibly Sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, M. X... Collection, November 16, 1925, lot 108; purchased from Paul Gouvert, dealer, Paris, in November 1926, by the Hon. Irwin B. Laughlin, Washington, Meridian House, at 1630 Crescent Place (died April 19, 1941). Thence by descent. |
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Condition Chip to base. |
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Auction Date Mar 23, 2019 |
Details:
Jean-Antoine Houdon is one of the most important French artists of the eighteenth century. As an exemplary neoclassical sculptor of the Enlightenment and the most successful portrait sculptor of his day, he eternalized untitled patrons, French and American proponents of the Enlightenment, but also rulers, for example Catherine II, Louis XVI and Napoleon I, as well as courtiers such as Madame Adélaïde or Prince Henry of Prussia. His work is characterised by its sense of realism and lack of idealism, capturing his subject’s transient expressions.
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