Enlightenment and Beauty: Sculptures by Houdon and Clodion

Marble bust of a woman glancing over right shoulder with long, curly hair pulled back and leaves adorning her garment

Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741–1828) and Claude Michel, called Clodion (1738–1814), were two of the foremost sculptors in France during the late eighteenth century. The Frick Collection houses an important group of works by the artists, which was established in 1915 when founder Henry Clay Frick acquired Clodion’s terracotta Zephyrus and Flora and, the following year, Houdon’s marble bust of the Comtesse du Cayla.  Beginning in April, these masterpieces—along with nearly all the examples by the two sculptors that were subsequently added to the Collection—will be shown together for the first time, highlighting the artists’ expressive ranges, as well as their defining contributions to the sculpture of Enlightenment-era France.  

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