The Gallery Trebosc & van Lelyveld was founded about twenty years ago in Amsterdam.
From the beginning, Olivier Trebosc and Alfred van Lelyveld have specialized in sculpture and swiftly built up a client base of museums and discerning collectors.
As qualified art historians, they offer a selection of unique, original and rare sculptures without any preference for choice of material or specific period. The discovery of an unusual object that goes beyond mere decorative interest is the raison d’être of Gallery Trebosc & van Lelyveld.
The gallery, which is open by appointment, is located in a 17th century Parisian townhouse where the Baron d’Holbach held his salon in the 18th century.
The gallery participated between 2008 and 2016 at TEFAF in Maastricht and for the first time in 2016 at the Biennale des Antiquaires in Paris.
Jean-Antoine HOUDON
(Versailles, 1741 – Paris, 1828)
Claudine Houdon at twelve months
A patinated plaster cast bearing the Houdon studio’s red wax mark on the reverse.
c. 1793
Height: 43 cm
Related works
– A marble copy held at the Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts.
– A plaster copy held at the Musée de la Vie romantique, Paris.
– ‘Bust of Claudine Houdon at twelve months’, a plaster cast bearing the remains of the workshop stamp in red wax, Sotheby’s auction, Paris, 2024.
Bibliography
– G. Giacometti, The Sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon and His Era, Paris, 1918.
– L. Réau, Houdon: His Life and Work, Paris, 1964.
– A. Poulet and G. Scherf, Jean-Antoine Houdon: Sculptor of the Enlightenment,
Washington, 2003.
This charming portrait depicts Antoinette-Claude Houdon, known as Claudine (1790–1878), the sculptor’s third daughter. Houdon made portraits of his children one of his favourite subjects and produced several portraits of his daughters Sabine, Anne-Ange and Claudine at various ages.
This particular model, depicting Claudine at around one year of age, ranks
among the artist’s most touching and personal works.
From the moment it was unveiled in the late 18th century, this portrait enjoyed great success and was produced in various forms within Houdon’s studio. The plaster copies retaining their red wax stamp are particularly valuable examples of this body of work. The stamp, usually affixed to the back of the bust,
guaranteed the work’s authenticity and that it had been produced under the direct supervision of the master’s studio. Several comparable examples are held in public and private collections.
The exquisitely delicate rendering of the face, the spontaneity of the expression and the naturalness of the pose perfectly illustrate Houdon’s genius as a portraitist. Here, the artist sets aside all solemnity in favour of a sensitive observation of childhood, heralding the new status accorded to children in art at the end of the 18th century.
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