born March 20, 1741, Versailles, Fr.
died July 15, 1828, Paris
French sculptor.
He studied with Jean-Baptiste Pigalle in Paris and in 1761 won the Prix de Rome. In Rome (176468) he achieved immediate fame with an anatomical study of a standing man ( 0441; 1767), casts of which were widely used in art academies. He became a member of the Royal Academy in Paris (1777) with his reclining Morpheus . He produced numerous religious and mythological works that are definitive expressions of the decorative 18th-century Rococo style of sculpture. His greatest strength was in capturing the individuality of his portrait subjects, including such luminaries as Denis Diderot , Catherine II the Great, Benjamin Franklin , the Marquis de Lafayette , and Voltaire . In the U.S. he made a marble statue of George Washington (1788). The vividness of physiognomy and character in his busts places him among the greatest portrait sculptors in history.
"Diana," bronze sculpture by Houdon, c. 1777; in the Louvre, Paris
Giraudon
Art Resource/EB Inc.