Jean-Antoine Houdon

French sculptor
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Quick Facts
Born:
March 20, 1741, Versailles, France
Died:
July 15, 1828, Paris (aged 87)
Awards And Honors:
Prix de Rome (1761)
Notable Works:
“Diana”
“Morpheus”

Jean-Antoine Houdon (born March 20, 1741, Versailles, France—died July 15, 1828, Paris) was a French sculptor whose religious and mythological works are definitive expressions of the 18th-century Rococo style of sculpture. Elements of classicism and naturalism are also evident in his work, and the vividness with which he expressed both physiognomy and character places him among history’s greatest portrait sculptors. Houdon began sculpting at age nine and underwent the long training prescribed by the Académie Royale. In 1761 he won the Prix de Rome, and while in Rome (1764–68) he established his reputation with a large marble statue of St. ...(100 of 483 words)