Bust of George Washington (1732-1799), after Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828) / Randolph Rogers / After Jean-Antoine Houdon

Viewer

Actions

file_download Download image 113 x 177 (JPEG) 226 x 355 (JPEG) 453 x 711 (JPEG) 907 x 1423 (JPEG)

About this Item

Record Details

Accession Number
1895.12
Title
Bust of George Washington (1732-1799), after Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828)
Artist Nationality
American
Artist Life Dates
1825 - 1892
Medium and Support
marble
Object Creation Date
1868
Object Creation Place
North and Central America (continent)
United States (nation)
Creation Place 2
United States (nation)
Style/Group/Movement
American Neo-Classical
Dimensions
80.6 cm x 55.8 cm x 34.3 cm (31 3/4 in. x 21 15/16 in. x 13 1/2 in.)
Century
19th century
Primary Object Classification
Sculpture
Primary Object Type
bust
Secondary Object Classification
Sculpture
Secondary Object Type
portrait
Physical Description
This is a white marble sculpture that depicts the upper torso of a man. There is drapery wrapped loosely around his figure. He is shown staring into the viewer's space and his facial expression is calm and reserved. This sculpture is carved in a realistic manner and rests on a columnar pedestal.
Subject Matter
An American expatriate sculptor, Randolph Rogers grew up in Ann Arbor but spent much of his adult life in Rome. As was typical of many aspiring 19th-century American sculptors, Rogers went to Italy to study classical Greek and Roman art as an essential prelude to becoming an accomplished artist. Although he was accustomed to studying and copying from classical sculpture, he also created replicas of 18th-century works, such as French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon’s Bust of George Washington, whose heroicized likeness, draping fabric and reserved expression would have appealed to Rogers’ Neoclassical taste. Rogers completed the bust of Washington in 1868, just three years after the end of the American Civil War, during a time of great change and an increasing desire on both moral and aesthetic grounds to return to the order, democracy and calm grandeur of the Roman Republic.
Houdon modeled his bust of George Washington from life in 1785 after spending two weeks in Washington’s home at Mount Vernon taking measurements, making casts of the general’s shoulders and sculpting wet clay models, which he used to produce countless commissioned sculptures in numerous variations. Rogers likely copied Houdon’s bust from photographs or prints of the work, first modeling it in clay, then casting it in plaster to be given to stonecutters who sculpted it in marble, as was common practice among many sculptors of the time.
Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit https://umma.umich.edu/about/services/request-image/ for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Technical Details

Image Size
907 x 1423
File Size
53 KB
Record
1895.12
Link to this Item
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1895.12/1895.12.jpg

Rights and Permissions

Portfolios

Manifest
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/i/image/api/manifest/musart:1895.12:1895.12.JPG

Cite this Item

View the Help Guide for more information.

Full citation
"Bust of George Washington (1732-1799), after Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828); Randolph Rogers; After Jean-Antoine Houdon." In the digital collection University of Michigan Museum of Art. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/musart/x-1895.12/1895.12.jpg. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 29, 2024.
Do you have questions about this content? Need to report a problem? Please contact us.