Jean-Antoine Houdon belongs to the record of art as a figure whose work outlasted the taste that first received it.
The record lists Jean-Antoine Houdon as French artist (1741–1828).
Jean-Antoine Houdon was born at Versailles in 1741. His recorded nationality is France. He trained at Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture.
Academies set the rules in this period - what counted as a serious subject, and who was allowed to train.
He worked as sculptor, medalist and visual artist.
Among his best-known works are George Washington, Winter and Saint John the Baptist. Art history is a record of what got kept, which is not the same as what was best.
Recognition followed: Prix de Rome and Knight of the Legion of Honour.
That the work was made in France shaped it: artistic traditions, academies and the galleries that decide what is seen have never been evenly distributed.
Jean-Antoine Houdon died in 1828, aged 87. The work remains, hanging in collections that outlived both the artist and the market that first priced it.
Achievements
- Prix de Rome
- Knight of the Legion of Honour
- Notable work: George Washington
- Notable work: Winter
- Notable work: Saint John the Baptist
