Bust of Voltaire

細節

Cast after a model by Jean-Antoine Houdon (French, 1741-1828), circa 1870
Bust of Voltaire
The back inscribed VOLTAIRE L'Original est a la Comedie Francse a Paris F. Barbedienne, Fondeur Paris
bronze, brown patina
57 cm. high

注意事項

Christie's charges a Buyer's premium calculated at 23.205% of the hammer price for each lot with a value up to €110,000. If the hammer price of a lot exceeds €110,000 then the premium for the lot is calculated at 23.205% of the first €110,000 plus 11.9% of any amount in excess of €110,000. Buyer's Premium is calculated on this basis for each lot individually.

拍品專文

This bronze is based on a full length marble statue of François Marie Arouet de Voltaire (1694-1778), the French author and philisopher, which was executed by Houdon in 1781. "What a marvel it is", Auguste Rodin said when he first saw this portrait of Voltaire. "It is the personification of malice. See! his sidelong glance seems watching some adversary. He has the pointed nose of a fox... You can see it quiver! And the mouth - what a triumph! It is framed by two furrows of irony. It seems to murmle sarcasm." (M. Forrest, Art Bronzes, West Chester, 1988, p. 14.)

Another cast of this bust is illustrated in M. Forrest, Art Bronzes, West Chester, 1988, p. 50.