1978.39: Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet) (1694-1778)

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