Portrait Bust of François René de Chateaubriand (1768–1848)

Images(4)

Portrait Bust of François René de Chateaubriand (1768–1848)

Artist Pierre-Jean David d'Angers French, 1788–1856

Date1828–1829

MediumOriginal plaster cast, pointed for transfer

DimensionsH. 31 7/8 in. (81 cm)

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the North Carolina State Art Society (Robert F. Phifer Bequest)

Object number2015.37

On View

On view

Label TextThis bust depicts the French writer and politician François-René de Chateaubriand, a member of the literary and linguistic academy of France, called the Académie Française. The artist, Pierre-Jean David d’Angers, was a prominent member of the art academy, winning several royal and government commissions and spending years working in both London and Rome.

This is not a finished sculpture; it is the artist’s original plaster cast. It is covered in small marks and dots, called points, which serve as references for measuring tools, placed at various distances all around the sculpture to allow a carver to copy the work in marble.
[M. Frederick, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," 2022]ProvenancePrivate collections, Angers; David and Constance Yates, NY; sold to NCMA, 2015.
Published ReferencesS. Lami, Dictionnaire des Scupteurs Vol. 6 (Paris: 1916), 71 (the marble).

P. Le Nouëne, C. Lesseur, V. Boidard, David d’Angers Portraitiste: catalogue sommaire des bustes de P.-J. David d’Angers conservés à la Galerie David d’Angers, pp. 25–26, illus. fig. 42, p. 34, no. 117, see also p. 119, cat. 76.
Exhibition HistoryRaleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," October 7, 2022–present. Object Rights Statement

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