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Jean-Antoine Houdon

Diana, 1778

Medium

marble

Dimensions

overall without base: 63 x 45.1 x 32.2 cm (24 13/16 x 17 3/4 x 12 11/16 in.)
overall with base: 81.6 x 45.1 x 32.2 cm (32 1/8 x 17 3/4 x 12 11/16 in.)
gross weight: 150 lb. (68.04 kg)

Credit Line

Gift of Syma Busiel

Accession Number

1957.1.1

Artists / Makers

Jean-Antoine Houdon (artist) French, 1741 - 1828

Image Use

This image is in the public domain.
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Inscription

on truncated arm, proper right: HOUDON / FECIT. / 1778.

Provenance

Comte Marcellin de Fresnes, by 1879;[1] by bequest before 1907 to Comtesse Greffulhe [née Princess Elisabeth de Caraman-Chimay, 1860-1952], Paris;[2] (Wildenstein & Co., New York), by November 1955;[3] purchased 18 January 1957 by NGA.[4]

[1] The sculpture is mentioned as being in the collection of "M. le comte de Fresne" in Paris by Clement de Ris, "Le musée de l'Ermitage à Saint-Petersbourg," Gazette des Beaux-Arts, 19, 2nd per. (1879): 186.

[2] The countess' life dates and the 1991 reference referred to in this note are from the provenance in the 2003 exhibition catalogue (Anne L. Poulet, Jean-Antoine Houdon: Sculptor of the Enlightenment, Exh. cat., National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Musée et domaine national du château de Versailles. Washington, D.C., 2003: 218). Anne de Cossé Brissac, La comtesse Greffulhe, Paris, 1991: 131-132, cites the unpublished memoirs of the countess and quotes an undated letter sent to her by the comte de Fresnes: "Je lègue à la comtesse Greffulhe, née Caraman-Chimay, le plus bel objet de Houdon, la première pensée de la Diane. Elle seule est digne de la posséder." See also "La 'Diane' et l' 'Apollon' de Houdon," Les Arts, no. 61 (January 1907): 10, 12, and G. Bapst, Diane Huntress by Jean Antoine Houdon, Paris, 1915: 10.

The bust was offered privately to Andrew W. Mellon in January 1936, but he declined to pursue the offer (see correspondence of 4 and 9 January 1936, in NGA curatorial files).

[3] Letter of 1 November 1955, from Wildenstein & Co. to NGA director John Walker, in NGA curatorial files.

[4] The sculpture was purchased by NGA with funds given by Syma Busiel.

Associated Names

Fresnes, Marcellin de, Comte
Greffulhe, Comtesse
Wildenstein & Co., Inc.

Exhibition History

1777: Probably Salon, Paris, 1777, no. 248.

1974: Nineteenth-Century Sculpture, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1974, unnumbered checklist.

1976: The Eye of Thomas Jefferson, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1976, no. 335.

1996: Obras Maestras de la National Gallery of Art de Washington, Museo Nacional de Antropología, Mexico City, 1996-1997, unnumbered catalogue, 96-97, color repro.

2003: Jean-Antoine Houdon: Sculptor to the Enlightenment, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Musée national du château de Versailles/Réunion des musées nationaux, 2003-2004, no. 36, repro.

Bibliography

1834: de Quincy, M. Quatremère. "Notice historique sur la vie et les ouvrages de M. Houdon, sculpteur." Recueil de notices historiques: lues dans les séances publiques de l'Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts Paris, 1834: 388-402.

1855: Montaiglon, Anatole de, and Georges Duplessis. "Houdon, sa vie et ses ouvrages." Revue universelle des Arts 1&2 (1855-1856): 179.

1879: Ris, Comte Louis Clément de. "Le musée de l'Ermitage à Saint-Petersbourg (first of 4 articles)." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 19 (February 1879): 186.

1907: Schemit, Jean. Archives de l'art français: Recueil de documents inédits, nouvelle période,1. Paris, 1907: 203.

1908: Schemit, Jean. "Catalogue critique des sculptures." Bulletin de la Société de l'Historie de l'Art français (1908): 171-172.

1910: Lami, Stanislas. Dictionnaire des Sculpteurs de l'Ecole française au dix-huitième siècle. 2 vols. Paris, 1910-1911:1: 419.

1913: Roger-Milès, L. Les Dianes de Houdon et les caprices de la pudeur estétique a la fin du XVIIe siècle. Paris, 1913: 26, 37, 40.

1915: Bapst, Germain. Diana Huntress by Jean Antoine Houdon (1741-1828). Paris, 1915: 7-18.

1919: Giacometti, Georges. Le statuaire Jean-Antoine Houdon: et son epoque (1741-1828) 3 vols. Paris, 1919:2:15-23.

1929: Giacometti, Georges. La vie et l'oeuvre de Houdon. 2 vols. Paris, 1928: 2:225-246.

1942: Rostrup, Haavard. J.A. Houdon (1741-1828). Copenhagen, 1942: 10, 26, 37.

1955: The Frick Collection: An Illustrated Catalogue of Works of Art in the Collection of Henry Clay Frick. vol. 12. New York, 1955: 98-99.

1959: Cott, Perry B. "A Note on Houdon's Bust of Diana." In Samuel H. Kress Foundation, Studies in the history of art. Dedicated to William E. Suida on his eightieth birthday. London, 1959: 364-367, fig. 1.

1959: Pope-Hennessy, John. "Honouring an Art Historian." Times Literary Supplement 3009 (30 October, 1959): 620.

1960: "La chronique des arts." Supplement a la 'Gazette des Beaux-Arts'. (January 1960): repro. 39.

1960: Réau, Louis. "La Diane et l'Apollon de Houdon." Colóquio 9 (June 1960): 59, repro.

1964: Réau, Louis. Houdon: Sa vie et son oeuvre. Paris, 1964: 24, no. 72, repro. fig. 5E/72.

1965: Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 159.

1968: National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 140, repro.

1984: Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 645, no. 1016, repro.

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.

2000: Scherf, Guilhem. Houdon: Diane Chasseresse. Paris, 2000: 20, repro. fig. 16.

2003: Houdon: Sculpteur des Lumières. Exh. cat. Musée National du Château de Versailles, France; National Gallery of Art, Washington; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2003: 225.

2005: Baillio, Joseph, et al. The Arts of France from François Ier to Napoléon Ier. A Centennial Celebration of Wildenstein's Presence in New York. Exh. cat. Wildenstein & Co., Inc., New York, 2005: 80 (not in the exhibition).