The Studio of Jean-Antoine Houdon

The Studio of Jean-Antoine Houdon
ArtistLouis-Léopold Boilly
Yearc.1804
TypeOil on canvas, genre painting
Dimensions88 cm × 115 cm (35 in × 45 in)
LocationMusée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris

The Studio of Jean-Antoine Houdon (French: L'atelier du sculpteur Houdon) is a c.1804 oil painting by the French artist Louis-Léopold Boilly. It depicts the interior of the Paris studio of the Neoclassical sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon. He is shown with his wife and three daughters during a sitting. [1]

Boilly was celebrated for his portraits and genre paintings of Parisian life and combines both in this painting. In an original sketch Boilly portrayed a bust of Napoleon. The version he exhibited at the Salon of 1804 featured the famous mathematician Pierre-Simon de Laplace.[2] Several versions of the painting exist. An 1808 painting by Boilly showing a life class is sometimes known by the same title, although it was exhibited at the Salon of 1808 as The Academy. It is now in the Musée Thomas-Henry in Cherbourg. [3]

References

Bibliography

  • Poulet, Anne L. Jean-Antoine Houdon: Sculptor of the Enlightenment. University of Chicago Press, 2003.