What do Mount Vernon, the Louvre, the Palace of Versailles, Tulsa’s Gilcrease Museum, and Mark Twain Elementary have in common?
All these locations have busts of George Washington—and the first four sculptures are made by Jean Antoine-Houdon. Although I was privileged to see Mount Vernon’s clay model last summer, recently two of the above mentioned works came to the attention of the Oklahoma Teaching Ambassador.
Gilcrease Museum is known for its collection of western art, but few realize it has a wonderful exhibit of our nation’s beginning. One of the centerpieces of the exhibit is Houdon’s Seravezza marble of George Washington. Carole Klein, the Associate Curator of Art at Gilcrease wrote an amazing article about the French artist in the recent Journal of Gilcrease Museum Vol. XVI 2. Just like Mount Vernon’s video recreation of Nelly (Washington’s granddaughter) giving details of how Houdon worked with the General, Klein explains how the sculptor “took careful measurements of his sitter’s face with calipers…and (also) made life masks…to cut to the core of his sitter’s personalities, portraying individual character with remarkable truth and physical accuracy.” The Associate Curator described why Houdon’s works always seem so animated, “…he carved a deep bowl for the iris of the eye then bored a deeper pupil in the base of the iris…” The clay bust at Mount Vernon is supposed to reflect the real Washington. The marble at Gilcrease is the closest likeness to the one at Mount Vernon.
Mark Twain Elementary also has some artistic renderings of our first President. I visited Beth Howard’s art classes and was amazed by the soon-to-be Houdons. The students’ school is just a hop, skip, and a jump from Gilcrease so it is very appropriate that they were making these creations. Ms. Howard had the students research Washington’s life before they made their models. After studying their busts, I think they, too, “portrayed individual character with remarkable truth.”
The masterpiece at Gilcrease is one of seven that Houdon created, but it is one of only two that are signed by Houdon. Although nothing compares with a trip to see Mount Vernon, I also encourage everyone to stop by Gilcrease in Tulsa. I know I stop by Gilcrease quite often to see General Washington!
