Voltaire

1778

Jean-Antoine Houdon

Artist, French, 1741 - 1828

The head, shoulders, and upper chest of a man wearing a curly wig are carved from white marble in this freestanding portrait sculpture. In this photograph, the man’s body and face are squared to us but his eyes cut to our right. His high forehead is lined, and there are crow’s feet around his eyes and wrinkles down the sides of his mouth. His thin lips are pulled up in a slight smile. The hair of his wig is brushed back, and it falls in tiers of dense curls to his shoulders. A white cloth is tied around his sinewy neck, and ruffles peek from the opening of his buttoned vest under his coat. The bust is curved along the bottom edge and sits on a round, stone pedestal. The sculpture is photographed against a gray background.

Media Options

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On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 53

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    marble

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 52.7 x 45.5 x 33.3 cm (20 3/4 x 17 15/16 x 13 1/8 in.)
    gross weight: 156 lb. (70.761 kg)

  • Accession

    1942.9.127

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Executed for the Lamorinière family, France; taken by them to England 1870/1871 during the Franco-Prussian War; consigned to (anonymous dealer, London); sold to Alfred Morrison [1821-1897], London and Fonthill House, Tisbury, Wiltshire;[1] (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 10 February 1900, no. 108); (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris);[2] sold 8 November 1901 to Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania;[3] inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] This early provenance was given in a letter of 12 Februry 1900 to Duveen Brothers from the dealer who sold the sculpture to Morrison. A typed transcription of the letter, annotated "signature illegible," came to NGA with the Widener collection records and is in NGA curatorial files.
[2] This sale, which included four sculptures from Morrison's collection, was kindly brought to the NGA's attention by Dr. Diana Kostyrko (e-mail of 28 August 2008, in NGA curatorial files). The annotated copy of the sales catalogue in the Knoedler Microfiche (British Sales) gives Duveen as the buyer.
[3] The date of this sale is in the Widener card file, in NGA curatorial files.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1976

  • The Eye of Thomas Jefferson, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1976, no. 334.

Bibliography

1919

  • Giacometti, Georges. Le statuaire Jean-Antoine Houdon: et son époque (1741-1828). 3 vols. Paris, 1919: 2:359.

1935

  • Widener, Peter A. B. Inventory of the objets d'art at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Penna., estate of the late P. A. B. Widener. Philadelphia, 1935: 19.

1942

  • Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 8.

1948

  • Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 137, repro.

1959

  • National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. Reprint. Washington, DC, 1959: 137, repro.

1964

  • Réau, Louis. Houdon: Sa vie et son oeuvre. Paris, 1964: 44, no. 202.

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.

1993

  • The American Heritage College Dictionary. 3rd ed., s.v. "Voltaire." Boston and New York, 1993: repro. 1513.

1994

  • Sculpture: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1994: 110, 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.

2006

  • Scherf, Guilhem. Houdon 1741-1828: Statues, portraits, sculptés... Paris, 2006: 76.

Inscriptions

on back, in center: AROUET DE VOLTAIRE, / NE A PARIS EN 1694, ET MORT EN 1778.; on truncated right arm: HOUDON, F. 1778.

Wikidata ID

Q63809772

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