Description
Jean Antoine HOUDON (1741-1828) and workshop Bust portrait of Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794) Plaster. Signed and dated houdon. f. 1787 under the right arm. H.73 cm Restorations and small missing parts. PROVENANCE: Acquired by the grandfather of the present owner at the Hôtel Drouot, from Me Ader around 1910; Private collection, Paris. RELATED BIBLIOGRAPHY: Jean Antoine Houdon. La sculpture sensible, cat. exp. Montpellier, Musée Fabre, 2010, p. 158-161, n° 23 (a terracotta example). The marble version of the bust of the Marquis de Condorcet was probably commissioned from Houdon around 1785 by Nicole de La Rochefoucauld. (American Philosophical Society Museum, Philadelphia, Inv.58.S.2). The Louvre has a beautiful proof in terracotta (Inv. RF1090) and another copy was part of the Courty collection. Our bust, a contemporary proof of the two above-mentioned versions, is from a coin mould, the seams of which can be seen in places. It presents a very lively impression beyond some surface wear. One finds there the beautiful impression of reserve and dignity, the frank and deep look and the calm and understood smile of the Academician. The bust is in line with the portraits of the 70s and 80s.
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Jean Antoine HOUDON (1741-1828) and workshop Bust portrait of Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas Caritat, Marquis de Condorcet (1743-1794) Plaster. Signed and dated houdon. f. 1787 under the right arm. H.73 cm Restorations and small missing parts. PROVENANCE: Acquired by the grandfather of the present owner at the Hôtel Drouot, from Me Ader around 1910; Private collection, Paris. RELATED BIBLIOGRAPHY: Jean Antoine Houdon. La sculpture sensible, cat. exp. Montpellier, Musée Fabre, 2010, p. 158-161, n° 23 (a terracotta example). The marble version of the bust of the Marquis de Condorcet was probably commissioned from Houdon around 1785 by Nicole de La Rochefoucauld. (American Philosophical Society Museum, Philadelphia, Inv.58.S.2). The Louvre has a beautiful proof in terracotta (Inv. RF1090) and another copy was part of the Courty collection. Our bust, a contemporary proof of the two above-mentioned versions, is from a coin mould, the seams of which can be seen in places. It presents a very lively impression beyond some surface wear. One finds there the beautiful impression of reserve and dignity, the frank and deep look and the calm and understood smile of the Academician. The bust is in line with the portraits of the 70s and 80s.
