“La Pudeur” – Late 19th century Carrara marble bust after Jean-Antoine Houdon

Important three-quarter bust in white Carrara marble representing “Modesty,” a young woman with a playful smile modestly concealing her nudity.
The young woman wears an elaborate hairstyle of interwoven braids held by a headband, with a fringe framing her face. She holds, with her arms crossed over her chest, a draped garment in the antique style.
This white Carrara marble bust rests on a molded circular socle.

French work from the late 19th century, circa 1890.

Dimensions:
H: 56.5 cm
W: 29 cm
D: 21 cm

Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741–1828): the sculptor of the Enlightenment
Born in Versailles, Houdon began sculpting at the age of nine in the studio of Jean-Baptiste Pigalle, then became a student of Michel-Ange Slodtz, who would have a strong influence on him. He entered the Académie and won the Prix de Rome scholarship, staying in Italy for nearly four years from 1764 to 1768. There, he studied works from Antiquity to the Renaissance and quickly combined realism with Greek idealism. He created several portraits of Voltaire and Denis Diderot, as well as of King Louis XVI, whose marble was presented at the Salon of 1790. A member of a Masonic lodge supporting the young American Republic, he received commissions from Thomas Jefferson and from the State of Virginia to “fix” the features of George Washington. He was one of the rare artists of his time to travel to North America.