Alexandre Brongniart
1777
Artist, French, 1741 - 1828
West Building Main Floor, Gallery 55
Artwork overview
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Medium
marble
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 39.2 x 28.7 x 19 cm (15 7/16 x 11 5/16 x 7 1/2 in.)
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Accession
1942.9.123
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
By inheritance to the sitter's great-nephew, Baron Jérome Pichon; (his sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, 29 March-10 April 1897, no. 1009); Joseph Bardac, Paris;[1] (Galerie Seligmann, Paris); sold 21 February 1911 to Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania;[2] gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] According to German Seligman, Merchants of Art: 1880-1960, Eighty Years of Professional Collecting, New York, 1961: 13, it was Sigismond Bardac who sold the busts to his father, Jacques Seligmann. However, according to René Gimpel, Diary of an Art Dealer, New York, 1966: 7-8, it was Joseph Bardac, Sigismond's brother, who owned both the marbles of the Brongniart children and the terracottas; Gimpel sold the terracottas to Widener.
[2] See notes of Charles Seymour, Jr., about busts by Houdon in the NGA collection, and the letter of 17 January 1911 from Joseph Bardac to Jacques Seligmann, in NGA curatorial files.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1935
French Painting and Sculpture of the XVIII Century, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1935-1936, no. 104, repro.
1974
Nineteenth-Century Sculpture, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1974, unnumbered checklist.
1996
Obras Maestras de la National Gallery of Art de Washington, Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City, 1996-1997, unnumbered catalogue, 92-93, color repro.
1997
The Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory: Alexandre Brongniart and the Triumph of Art and Industry, 1800-1847, The Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, New York, 1997-1998, not in cat., mentioned 25-26.
2003
Exhibition of children's portraits held in conjunction with Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828): Sculptor of the Enlightenment, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2003-2004, no cat.
Bibliography
1870
Liepmannssohn and Dufour, eds. Collection des livrets des anciennes expositions depuis 1673 jusqu'en 1800: Exposition de 1777. Paris, 1870: 44-45.
1919
Giacometti, Georges. Le statuaire Jean-Antoine Houdon: et son epoque (1741-1828) 3 vols. Paris, 1919:2: 15.
1928
Vitry, Paul. "L'éxposition du centenaire de Houdon à Versailles." La Revue de l'art ancien et moderne 53 (1928): 57-70.
1931
Maillard, Elisa. Houdon. Paris, 1931: 28-29. repro. 16.
1935
Preston, Remington. "French Painting and Sculpture of the XVIII Century." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 30 (1935): 206-215.
1942
Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 8, as Alexandre Brongniard as a Boy.
1948
Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 139, repro., as Alexandre Brongniard.
1949
Seymour, Charles. Masterpieces of Sculpture from the National Gallery of Art. Washington and New York, 1949: 183, note 52, repro. 160-162.
1957
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 94 [possibly 1942.9.125].
1961
Seligman, Germain. Merchants of Art: 1880-1960, Eighty Years of Professional Collecting. New York, 1961: 13, repro. pl. 21.
1964
Réau, Louis. Houdon: Sa vie et son oeuvre. Paris, 1964: 26-27, 95, 412-413, no. 92, fig. 43.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 158.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 140, repro.
1973
Finley, David Edward. A Standard of Excellence: Andrew W. Mellon Founds the National Gallery of Art at Washington. Washington, 1973: 90, 95 repro.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 645, no. 1019, repro., as Alexandre Brongniard.
1993
Sporre, Dennis J. The Creative Impulse: An Introduction to the Arts. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1993: 359, repro. 360.
1994
Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 109, repro.
1999
Norman Herz, Katherine A. Holbrow and Shelley G. Sturman. "Marble Sculture in the National Gallery of Art: a Provenance Study." In Max Schvoerer, ed. Archéomatériaux: marbres et autres roches: ASMOSIA IV, Bordeaux, France 9-13 october 1995: actes de la IVème Conférence international de l’Association pour l’étude des marbres et autres roches utilizes dans le passé. Talence, 1999: 101-110.
Inscriptions
on back on bottom edge: A. HOUDON, F. AN. 1777
Wikidata ID
Q63809769