: The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) recently unveiled a
gift to the museum from the Ahmanson Foundation: an extremely
rare life-size plaster sculpture of the famed Eighteenth Century
writer and philosopher Voltaire by the great portraitist
Jean-Antoine Houdon.
The work, known as 'Seated Voltaire," is regarded as Houdon's
masterpiece. There are eight versions of the composition - three
in plaster, two in terra-cotta, two in marble and one in papier
mache. LACMA's is the only one outside Europe.
"This generous gift by The Ahmanson Foundation is a truly
spectacular gesture toward LACMA and the people of Los Angeles,
and adds to the foundation's long history of helping the museum
acquire some of its most important works of art," said LACMA
president and Wallis Annenberg director Andrea L. Rich. "For the
first time, visitors from Los Angeles and abroad will be able to
see Houdon's masterpiece in the United States and only at LACMA."
The monument to Voltaire is justifiably called Houdon's
masterpiece. Within weeks before the subject's death in 1778,
Houdon captured the essence of the great man in a portrait-bust.
Soon Voltaire's niece commissioned a full-scale marble monument,
as did Catherine the Great. Houdon conceived the basic
composition by 1779 and completed a full-scale plaster version in
1780. The marble sculptures (Comedie Francaise, Paris and State
Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg) are dated 1781. Houdon succeeded
in creating a vibrant, timeless image: immersed in a great robe
stripped of stylish details, his compassionate eyes sparkling
with wit, Voltaire seems to come to life before us. His brilliant
and challenging personality embodies the paradoxical
contradictions of the age in which he lived. Although Voltaire
was the philosopher most admired by the Empress of Russia, he was
a defender of democracy and decried the feckless cruelty of
tyrants and hypocrites who were their lackeys. Voltaire's
mourners proclaimed that he had "prepared us to become free."
Besides the two marbles, the Musee Fabre in Montpellier and the
Voltaire Institute in Geneva own terra-cotta casts. A papier
mache copy in the Municipal Library in Rouen was crafted in 1791
for the memorial procession that carried Voltaire's body to the
Pantheon in Paris. In addition, three versions in plaster are
known: one in the Bibliotheque Nationale de France; one in the
Coty collection that was auctioned in 1936 (now in a European
private collection) and the one now in LACMA's permanent
collection.
"Seated Voltaire" is on view in LACMA's Ahmanson Building. LACMA
is at 5905 Wilshire Boulevard. For information, www.lacma.org or
323-857-6000.
