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EVOLUTION OF SCULPTURE
For the origins of the plastic arts
see: History of Sculpture.
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New Sculptural Techniques
However, not all notaries succumbed to
Houdon's charm. The artist Jean-Jacques Rousseau refused to sit for the
sculptor. But when Rousseau died, Houdon was the obvious choice to make
his death mask, and the mask in turn was used to carve a bust sculpture.
According to one contemporary, Rousseau's eyes were so piercing that "they
seem to penetrate into the most hidden innermost folds of the human heart!"
Houdon's ability to create realistic eyes partly explained his success.
Audiences were awed by their realism and life. He created a new sculpting
technique by first cutting out the entire iris, then boring a deeper hole
for the pupil, leaving a small fragment of fine marble overhanging the
iris. The effect was a vivacious, mobile expression which was unrivalled
in the history of either portrait painting or sculpture.
Most Famous Portraits/Busts
The intellectual, François-Marie
Arouet, better known as Voltaire sat for several portraits on his return
from 30 years in exile. It is by these portraits that the world has a
mental picture of Voltaire. In a few sittings, Houdon managed to grasp
the expression that captivated contemporaries - a weary face, toothless
mouth, deep lines and a compressed smile. Houdon brought the same skill
to his portraits of the founders of the United States of America. His
portrait of Thomas Jefferson served as the source for the Jefferson dollar,
minted in 1903. Jefferson wanted to recognise the great work of George
Washington and commissioned Houdon to produce a likeness. A stickler for
accuracy, Houdon travelled to the States to study his subject in person.
Houdon's marble bust of Washington (1784, Mount Vernon, Virginia)
was perhaps one of the most important sculptures of his career. He created
another two.
Other Sculptures
These include: Bust of the Artist's Wife (c.1770, Louvre, Paris);
bust of the Comtesse de Sabran (c.1785, Neues Palais, Potsdam);
Denis Diderot (1771, Louvre); Diana (c.1776, Museu Calouste
Gulbenkian, Lisbon); General Dumouriez (1792, Musee des Beaux-Arts,
Angers); Louise Brongniart (1777, Louvre); Madame de Serilly
(1782, Wallace Collection, London); Peasant Girl of Frascati (1774,
Musee Cognacq-Jay, Paris); Robert Fulton (c.1803, Metropolitan
Museum of Art, New York), and others.
Houdon became a member of the Academy of
Painting and Sculpture in 1771 and a professor in 1778. During the French
Revolution, perceived as a bourgeois, he fell out of favour. However,
he managed to avoid imprisonment and even went on to create a portrait
of Bonaparte (1806). Houdon died in Paris in 1828.
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