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County CollectionCivic Center MallCopy after George Washington (original, 1796)Artist:
Jean-Antoine Houdon
Date:
1933
Region:
Downtown LA
District:
First
Location:
Civic Center Mall
500 West Temple Street Los Angeles, CA 90012 Department:
Internal Services Department
 
Click for larger photos
Project DescriptionThis full-length bronze figure of George Washington dressed in military uniform is a copy of the original granite sculpture by the great French artist Jean-Antoine Houdon. The original was created in Paris in 1796 and was shipped and installed in the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond. With special permission from the Virginia General Assembly, Gorham Manufacturing Company cast approximately 30 bronze copies of the statue in the late nineteenth century; one copy was acquired in 1933 by the Women’s Community Service, an auxiliary of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, and presented to the County on February 22, 1933, the birthday of George Washington. Houdon himself traveled to Mt. Vernon, Virginia, in 1785 to study Washington. In fact, the statue depicts Washington’s exact life-size measurements at age 53. Wearing his Revolutionary War uniform, Washington stands facing forward with his left arm resting on a column of thirteen rods with arrows. While it was typical in the eighteenth century to portray stately figures in ancient Roman garb, Houdon depicts Washington in military uniform. Information provided courtesy of Michael Several, Los Angeles, January 1998. About the ArtistJean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828) was formally trained as a sculptor in France and Italy. Over a 50-year period, he executed sculptures of many of the period’s most prominent figures including Napoleon, Voltaire, Moliere, Diderot and Rousseau. |
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