Editing Jean-Antoine Houdon (section)

==Biography==
[[File:Paris art deco boilly houdon.jpg|thumb|''Jean-Antoine Houdon at work in his atelier'', 1804, by [[Louis-Léopold Boilly]], [[Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris|Musée des Arts Décoratifs]], Paris.]]

Houdon was born in [[Versailles (city)|Versailles]], on 20 March 1741.{{sfn|Hart|Biddle|1911|p=3}}
In 1752, he entered the [[Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture]], where he studied with [[René-Michel Slodtz]], [[Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne]], and [[Jean-Baptiste Pigalle]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} From 1761 to 1764, he studied at the [[École royale des élèves protégés]].{{sfn|Murray|2004}}

Houdon won the [[Prix de Rome]] in 1761, but was not greatly influenced by ancient and [[Renaissance art]] in [[Rome]]. His stay in the city is marked by two characteristic and important productions: the superb [[écorché]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.artcyclopedia.com/feature-2003-06-Houdon-Ecorche.html|title=Jean-Antoine Houdon: l'Ecorche (Flayed Man)|website=artcyclopedia.com}}</ref> (1767), an anatomical model which has served as a guide to all artists since his day, and the statue of [[Bruno of Cologne|Saint Bruno]] in the church of [[Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri]] in Rome. 
After four years in [[Italian Peninsula|Italy]], Houdon returned to [[Paris]].{{sfn|Hart|Biddle|1911|pp=7–8}}

He submitted ''Morpheus'' to the Salon of 1771.{{sfn|Herbermann|1913}} He developed his practise of portrait busts.
He became a member of the [[Académie de peinture et de sculpture]] in 1771, and a professor in 1778. In 1778, he modeled [[Voltaire]], producing a portrait bust with wig for the [[Comédie-Française]]; one for the [[Palace of Versailles]], and one for [[Catherine the Great]].{{sfn|Hart|Biddle|1911|p=36}}

In 1778, he joined the masonic lodge [[Les Neuf Sœurs]], where he later met [[Benjamin Franklin]], and [[John Paul Jones]].{{sfn|Marshall|Kaufman|Johnston|2005}}
For Salon of 1781, he submitted a ''Diana'' which was refused without drapery.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

Houdon's portrait sculpture of Washington was the result of a specific invitation by Benjamin Franklin to cross the Atlantic in 1785, specifically to visit [[Mount Vernon (plantation)|Mount Vernon]], so that Washington could model for him. Washington sat for wet clay life models and a plaster life mask. 
These models served for many commissions of Washington, including the [[George Washington (Houdon)|standing figure]] commissioned by the [[Virginia General Assembly]], for the [[Virginia State Capitol]] in [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} 
Numerous variations of the Washington bust were produced, portraying him variously as a general in uniform, in the classical manner showing chest musculature, and as Roman Consul [[Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus]] clad in a toga.

In the 1780s, Houdon produced two semi-nude sculptures, [[Winter (sculpture)|''Winter'']] and ''Bather''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/jahd/hd_jahd.htm|title=Jean Antoine Houdon (1741–1828)|website=metmuseum.org|date=October 2008 |access-date=17 May 2018}}</ref>

Perceived as bourgeois for his connections to the court of Louis XVI, he fell out of favour during the [[French Revolution]], although he escaped imprisonment. 
Houdon returned to favor during the [[French Consulate]] and [[First French Empire|Empire]], being taken on as one of the original artistic team for what became the [[Column of the Grande Armée]] at Wimille.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}
He was made a Chevalier de la [[Légion d'honneur]], on 17 December 1804.{{sfn|Hart|Biddle|1911|p= 264}} He was created a ''Chevalier de l'Empire'' in 1809, which was made hereditary by letters patent in 1816.[[Image:George Washington 1890 Issue Lake-2c.jpg|thumb|179px|{{center|American Bank Note Co}}{{center|Issue of 1890}}]]Houdon died in Paris on 15 July 1828,{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} and was interred at the [[Montparnasse Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite book|title=La sculpture dans les cimetières de Paris|author=Jouin, Henry|location=[[Mâcon]]|page=223|language=fr|date=1898|url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9730153t}}</ref>