Houdon is universally recognized as the greatest European portrait sculptor of the last half of the 18th century. Vivid portrayals of the great intellectual, military, and political figures, as well as portraits of children and works depicting historical figures, the remarkable degree of physical accuracy and extraordinary psychological insight Houdon incorporated into his sculptures.
Shop sculptures, statues, portrait busts by Houdon. Jean Houdon (1741-1828) was French neoclassical sculptor. He was the Sculptor of the Enlightenment. He studied with Michel Ange Slodtz, Lemoyne and Pigalle, took the Prix de Rome at the age of 20, and spent four years in Italy. Many of his later works reveal his study of classical form. He quickly became famous in Paris for his extraordinarily accurate portrait sculptures and received commissions from all over the continents. In 1785 he visited the United States briefly and stayed at Mount Vernon while making studies for his statue of Washington at Richmond. Among his portrait busts are those of Jefferson, Franklin, Diderot, Rousseau, John Paul Jones, Napoleon, Josephine, Lafayette, Molière, Mirabeau, Buffon, and Prince Henry of Prussia, and he also sculpted a full-length statue of Voltaire. He succeeded not only in creating sculptural documents of his time, but in developing a type of portraiture remarkable for its elegance, measured realism, and depiction of individuality. Houdon exerted a strong influence over European and American sculptors for many years. Statue.com is proud to offer many of Houdon's reproductions, especially hard to find President bust and other sculptures.
