Jean-Antoine Houdon
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Jean-Antoine Houdon (March 20, 1741 – July 15, 1828) was a French sculptor. He became famous for his busts and statues of the major thinkers and doers of the time, including those of Denis Diderot (1771), Benjamin Franklin (1778), Thomas Jefferson (1789), Napoleon Bonaparte, Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1778), Voltaire (1781), and George Washington (1788).
Born in Versailles, Houdon won the Prix de Rome in 1761, but he was not influenced greatly by the treasures of art in Rome. His stay in the city is marked by two characteristic and important productions: the superb Ecorché, an anatomical model which has served as a guide to all artists since his day, and the statue of Saint Bruno in the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri in Rome. After ten years stay in Italy, Houdon returned to Paris.
Houdon's statue of General Washington was the outcome of a specific invitation by Franklin to come across the Atlantic Ocean to Mount Vernon, so that Washington could model for him. Ordered by the Legislature of Virginia, the marble statue now adorns the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond.
He became a member of the Académie des beaux-arts in 1771, and a professor in 1778. He was out of favor during the French Revolution, although he escaped imprisonment; he came back into favor under the French Consulate and Empire.
Houdon died in Paris and was interred at the Cimetière du Montparnasse.
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