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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1978.39
People
Jean-Antoine Houdon, French (Versailles, France 1741 - 1828 Paris, France)
Unidentified Artist
Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire
Title
Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet) (1694-1778)
Other Titles
Alternate Title: Model for a Bust of Voltaire
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, bust
Date
19th-20th century
Culture
French
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/227927

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Terracotta and plaster
Dimensions
26.5 x 19 x 9.5 cm (10 7/16 x 7 1/2 x 3 3/4 in.)
With black marble base: 42.8 x 19 x 9.5 cm (16 7/8 x 7 1/2 x 3 3/4 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • seal: inside back, red wax: [illegible monogram]
  • inscription: inside back, black ink, handwritten, in artist's hand: houdon / fecit

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
The artist; to Jean-Antoine Voltaire [1], gift; to M. Lacombe, 1812, bequesated to M. Th.-J.-B. Prieur, bequest; to Hippolyte Prieru. Marquis de Biron, sold [Paris, June 1914]; to Therese Kuhn Straus, New York, 1914, gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1978

Notes
[1] According to family legend. See 1914 sale catalogue

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Therese Kuhn Straus in memory of her husband, Herbert N. Straus, Harvard Class of 1903
Accession Year
1978
Object Number
1978.39
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • Catalogue des Dessins, Pastels, Peintures et Sculptures principalement de l'École Française du XVIIIe Siècle, auct. cat., Galerie Georges Petit (Paris, France, June 9 1914 - June 11 1914), no. 101
  • Georges Giacometti, La Vie et l'Oeuvre de Houdon, A. Camoin (Paris, France, 1929), vol. II, pp. 163, 166-168
  • French Painting and Sculpture of the XVIII Century, exh. cat., Plantin Press (New York, NY, 1935), no. 106
  • The French Revolution, exh. cat., Wildenstein Galleries (New York, NY, 1943), no. 44
  • Sculpture by Houdon, Paintings and Drawings by David, exh. cat., Century Association (New York, NY, 1947), no. 8
  • Louis Réau, Houdon: Sa Vie et son Oeuvre, Libraire F. de Nobele (Paris, France, 1964), pt. 3, p. 45

Exhibition History

  • French Painting and Sculpture of the XVIII Century, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 11/06/1935 - 01/05/1936
  • The French Revolution, Wildenstein Gallery, New York, New York, 12/01/1943 - 12/31/1943
  • Sculpture by Houdon, Paintings and Drawings by David, Century Association, New York, 02/19/1947 - 04/10/1947
  • Exhibition of the Mrs. Herbert N. Straus Collection, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 05/13/1978 - 06/17/1978

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu