HOUDON, Jean-Antoine

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin

c. 1778

bronze

bust

Dimensions (HxWxD): 15 ³⁄₄ x 13 ¹⁄₂ x 9 in.

signed on back center: houdon

Acc. No.: 980.1427.1

Credit Line: The White House Historical Association (White House Collection)

Photo credit: http://www.whitehouseresearch.org, May 8, 2013

© Artist : public domain

Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, The White House

www.whitehouse.gov

Provenance

• 1980, Gift of J. William Middendorf II and the White House Historical Association

Bibliography

• http://www.whitehouseresearch.org (accessed May 8, 2013)
• The White House Historical Association website, https://library.whitehousehistory.org (accessed June 25, 2019)
• Treasures of the White House p. 73

Comment

• The White House Historical Association website (accessed June 25, 2019):
  This bust of Benjamin Franklin was done by Jean Antoine Houdon and photographed by Erik Kvalsvik.
  Franklin was a renowned author, inventor and philosopher who was also one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. He also served as the representative of the United States in France during the Revolutionary War.
  Houdon was a prolific sculptor of notable Americans. Two of his works are in the White House Collection.