Artist/Maker
Jean Antoine Houdon
(French, 1741 - 1828)
Depicted
George Washington
(American, 1732 – 1799)
George Washington (1732–1799)
ca. 1785-1828
Painted plaster
Overall: 12 x 24 x 17 1/2 in., 25 lb. (30.5 x 61 x 44.5 cm, 11.3 kg)
Gift of Dr. David Hosack
1832.4
Of the four main types of Houdon portrait busts of Washington set forth by Gustavus Eisen ("Portraits of Washington," 3, 1932, p. 757), this is the "with drapery in toga style" type. It was obtained by Dr. Hosack from the sale of the effects of the studio after Houdon's death in 1828. The face was not modeled from life but from the life mask that Houdon made at Mount Vernon in the fall of 1785. The mask is now in the Morgan Library, New York.
DescriptionPortrait bust.ClassificationsSCULPTURE
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