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Winter

1787
On View Gallery
A frileuse is a woman subject to cold. A marble version (Musée Fabre, Montpellier), dated 1783, was originally intended as an allegory of Winter. For the Museum's bronze, cast by Houdon himself and coming from the collection of the duc d'Orléans, Houdon stripped the spiraling columnar composition to its bare essentials. The girl's tremulous flesh is offset by her tightly drawn shawl, elegant but hardly adequate.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Winter
  • Artist: Jean Antoine Houdon (French, Versailles 1741–1828 Paris)
  • Date: 1787
  • Culture: French, Paris
  • Medium: Bronze
  • Dimensions: Overall (confirmed): 56 1/2 x 15 3/8 x 19 7/8 in., Wt. 438 lb., 15 in. (143.5 x 39.1 x 50.5 cm, 198.6755kg, 38.1 cm); Pedestal: H. 34 in. (86.4 cm)
  • Classification: Sculpture-Bronze
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Kate Trubee Davison, 1962
  • Object Number: 62.55
  • Curatorial Department: European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Audio

Cover Image for 87. Winter, Part 1

87. Winter, Part 1

Gallery 548

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More Artwork

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Joel Barlow (1754–1812), Jean Antoine Houdon French, Plaster, French
Joel Barlow (1754–1812)
Jean Antoine Houdon
18th century
Georges-Louis-Leclerc, comte de Buffon (1707–1788), Jean Antoine Houdon French, Tinted stucco, French
Georges-Louis-Leclerc, comte de Buffon (1707–1788)
Jean Antoine Houdon
1782
George Washington (1732–1799), Jean Antoine Houdon French, Bronze, dark brown patina, French
George Washington (1732–1799)
Multiple artists/makers
19th–early 20th century, cast after a model of 1788
Woman, sometimes identified as the Princesse de Lamballe, Jean Antoine Houdon French, Plaster, French
Woman, sometimes identified as the Princesse de Lamballe
Jean Antoine Houdon
19th century
Robert Fulton (1765–1815), Jean Antoine Houdon French, Bronze, French
Robert Fulton (1765–1815)
Jean Antoine Houdon
Jno. Williams, Inc. Bronze Foundry, New York
early 20th century cast, after model of 1803

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