the base with engraved ormolu label L'âme est un feu qu'il faut nourrir/ Et qui s'énteint s'il ne s'augmente. Volt.

Leboeuf Collection, Paris, 8 April 1783, lot no. 120
Mme Pauline Viardot (1821-1910)
Vincent Astor (1891-1959), New York
Mrs. Vincent Astor, New York
Her sale, Christie’s, New York, 24 May 2001, lot 140

G. Giacometti, Le Statuaire Jean-Antoine Houdon et son Époque, vol. II, Paris, 1919 pp. 19 and 360 (where he mentions that the bronze was owned by Mrs. M. J. Astor of New York)
L. Réau, Houdon - Sa vie et son Oeuvre, Paris, 1964, no. 202, II, p. 44
H. H. Arnason, The Sculptures of Houdon, London, 1975, p. 52
A. L. Poulet, Jean-Antoine Houdon : sculptor of the Enlightenment, exhibition catalogue, National Gallery, Washington, 2003, p. 156 (listed under 'undesignated busts of Voltaire')
G. Scherf, Houdon at the Louvre. Masterworks of the Enlightenment, exhibition catalogue, the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, 7 June - 7 September 2008, Musée du Louvre, Paris and the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, pp. 53 and 180, n.16

Standard surface abrasions. Minor scratches. Minor areas re-lacquered due to rubbing. Tiny chips to some corners of porphyry base. Beautiful quality and otherwise overall very good condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Houdon's portraits of the celebrated author, philosopher and man of letters, François-Marie Arouet, called Voltaire (1694-1778), are among the sculptor's most famous images. In 1778 Houdon was anxious to add a portrait of Voltaire to his collection of “great men of the Enlightenment”. Voltaire arrived in Paris from Ferney, his retreat near Geneva, and the sculptor beckoned the senior statesman to his studio at the Bibliothèque royale, near the Hôtel de Villette on rue de Beaune where Voltaire was staying. Houdon eventually created a number of busts and full-length statues of Voltaire in various forms with perruque and without, with drapery around the shoulders and with bare chest, as seen here. The present type, known as tête nue, seems to have been the model for Houdon’s more elaborate presentations of his subject.

Inspired by the busts of ancient philosophers, this model depicts Voltaire in his simplest form, emphasizing the modern, classicizing aspect of the portrait, while simultaneously focusing the viewer's attention on the subtleties of the face. The first marble was completed by April 16, 1778 when the 18^th century French journalist, François Métra noted: “All of Paris goes to the studio of M. Houdon to see a bust of M. Voltaire that is without question the closest likeness of all the portraits one has done of this patriarch” (Poulet, op. cit., p.🧸 54). News of the sitti🦄ng echoed throughout Europe at which time Catherine II of Russia commissioned a bust for herself.

In his authoritative monograph on the artist, Louis Réau (op. cit.) singles out two versions in bronze - one in the Musée du Louvre, Paris and the present example - as being superior to other known casts. Poulet (op. cit.) notes the bronze busts in the Pushkin Museum, Moscow (acquired by Catherine the Great in October 1778) and Louvre busts as the principal extant bronze versions. Busts of Voltaire were offered in a number of sales in France in the 18^th and 19^th century💝; the present piece was in the Leboeuf collection sold on 8 April 1783. It was distinguished by its porphyry base and gilt bronze inscribed plaque including lines of a poem♛ written by Voltaire in 1747, dedicated to Princess Ulrika of Prussia, roughly translated as 'The soul is a fire that must be fed/ And that will go out if it doesn't grow'. 

The present portrait embodies the spirit of the Enlightenment. Here, Houdon captured the sitter’s essential characteristics, injecting life into the portrait. Voltaire displays an enigmatic smile and regardless of his age and health at that time, the sharply cut pupils, typical of Houdon’s🍰 portraits, convey a sense of great vitality and unmitigated intellectual clarity.

Jean-Antoine Houdon, named Sculpteur de Roi, had been named to the Académie royale in 1777 and had an established reputation as the pre-eminent portrait sculptor of his time in Europe. Houdon modelled the likene💜sses of other men of letters including Rousseau, Moliére and Diderot. Subsequent portraits included European nobility and the most prominent Americans such as Thomas Jefferson, Robert Fulton, John Paul Jones and Benjamin Franklin, culminating in a full-length statue o꧒f George Washington.