In 2015, a very interesting piece of news broke – that an 18th-century marble bust of the goddess Diana, stolen by the Nazis during World War II, was offered by a private individual at an auction in Austria for 250,000 euros.
The bust was later returned to Poland, which had been searching for the work by the famous French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon since 1940. Before it disappeared, the bust was in the collection of the last Polish king, Stanisław August Poniatowski.
And another curious story with a work by Houdon: There is information that in 1929-1930, the oil entrepreneur of Armenian origin Calouste Gulbenkian bought a huge number of canvases from the Hermitage, including “Portrait of Helena Furman” by Rubens, “Athena Pallas”, “Portrait of an Old Man” by Rembrandt, etc.
The two-meter marble sculpture “Diana” by Jean-Antoine Houdon also ended up in Gulbenkian’s collection in Portugal. A separate story could be written about the “wanderings” of this statue – the most famous work by Jean-Antoine Houdon.
To this day, art historians are unanimous about the statue of Diana that it is “the most amazing sculpted female nude”, and about the sculptor – that he “resurrected the classics of antiquity”.
In 1761, Houdon was awarded the Prize of Rome and stayed in Italy for three years, during which he studied ancient sculpture to perfection. There he created a marble statue of St. Bruno for the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, a copy of which is still used to train students in sculpture.
Houdon returned to Paris in 1768 and soon after – in 1777 – presented a plaster statue of “Diana the Huntress” at the Salon. Everyone was struck by the sensual silhouette of the naked goddess. Houdon also presented a marble figure of Morpheus to the academicians, which is kept in the Louvre.
Jean-Antoine Houdon is a universally recognized master of sculpture. He is attributed to neoclassicism. “He brings back the grace of the classics and the perfection of antiquity,” wrote one critic about Houdon.
Houdon is the author of many bust-portraits of his famous contemporaries: Voltaire, Diderot, Catherine II, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Mirabeau, Necker, etc. They are true masterpieces. Based on Rousseau’s death mask, Houdon created a bronze statue of the thinker, which is still one of the most visited in the Louvre today.
One of his most famous works is the marble seated figure of Voltaire, created for Catherine II and kept in the Hermitage. Bronze copies of the statue were cast for the “Comedy Francese” and the public library in St. Petersburg.
Houdon’s busts amaze with their strong impact. He not only achieves a resemblance to his models, but also creates a “living” idea of their character. He had the exceptional skill of achieving this through carefully chosen poses and expressive facial expressions of the model. That is why Jean-Antoine Houdon is famous as the “psychologist of sculpture”.
His works were repeatedly used as models for engraved postage stamps in the USA in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These were the stamps with the face of George Washington in profile. In this way, Houdon’s fame crossed the borders of Europe and is still relevant today.
Houdon mastered all materials to perfection. He worked equally well with clay, marble and bronze, but in his mature years he mainly preferred clay. Another interesting feature of his work is that he paid special attention to the clothes of his models. His sculptures emphasize every fold of the models’ clothes, for which he used a thin cutter.
Critics also pay attention to his children’s portraits, in which we see the handwriting of an artist who conveys to us childhood purity with a very intimate and unhurried warmth. This is especially evident in his work “The Children of Architect Alexander Bronyar”. In fact, Houdon was friends with the architect, so he also knew his children closely.
It is known that Jean-Antoine Houdon was a Freemason, and a member of one of the most famous Masonic lodges – “Les Neuf Sœurs”. This is also an expression of the enormous authority of his personality and the influence he had during his lifetime. His personal life was expressed in a successful marriage and two children. A harmonious life, without turmoil, completely subordinated to the beauty of art. Houdon devoted his entire life to this cause.
Jean-Antoine Houdon is a truly remarkable person who transcended his era and geographical boundaries. His work is a vivid example of talent and dedication to art that defeats time. Already 195 years after his death, his work continues to intrigue us with that perfection that can compete with the works of the greatest masters of antiquity.
Photo: Antique engraving of the statue of the goddess Diana by Jean-Antoine Houdon.
We acknowledge The European Times for the information.
