Jean Antoine Houdon - Definition and Overview

Jean-Antoine Houdon (March 20, 1741 - July 15, 1828) was a French sculptor.

Bust of Jefferson by Houdon

Jean-Antoine Houdon was born in Versailles. As a sculptor, he became famous for his busts and statues of the great thinkers and doers of the time, including those of Denis Diderot (1771), Benjamin Franklin (1778), Thomas Jefferson (1789), Napoleon, Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1778), Voltaire (1781), and George Washington (1788). The statue of Washington was the outcome of a specific invitation by Jefferson Franklin to come across the Atlantic Ocean to Mount Vernon so that Washington could model for him.

He became a member of the Académie Royale in 1771 and a professor in 1778. He was out of favor during the French Revolution (although he escaped imprisonment), but came back into favor under Napoleon Bonaparte.

Jean Antoine Houdon died in Paris and was interred at the Cimetière du Montparnasse.