Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1826) has long been recognized as the greatest European portrait sculptor of the late eighteenth century, flourishing during both the American and French Revolutions as well as during the Directoire and Empire in France. Whether sculpting a head of state, an intellectual, or a young child, Houdon had an uncanny ability to capture the essence of his subject with a characteristic pose or expression. Yet until now, Houdon's exquisite sculptures have never been the subject of a major exhibition.

This lavish exhibition catalogue will immediately take its rightful place as the definitive work on Houdon. With more than one hundred color plates and two hundred black and white halftones, Jean-Antoine Houdon: Sculptor of the Enlightenment illustrates every stage of the sculptor's fascinating career, from his early portrayals of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to his stunning portraits of American patriots such as George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, John Paul Jones, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. Indeed the images we hold dear of legendary Enlightenment figures like Diderot, Rousseau, d'Alembert, and Voltaire are based on works by Houdon. More than mere representations, these sculptures provide us fascinating, intimate glimpses into the very core of who these figures were. Houdon's genius animated even his less illustrious subjects, like his portraits of his family and friends, and filled his sculptures of children with delicacy and freshness. Accompanying the images of Houdon's masterworks are four insightful essays that discuss Houdon's views on art (based in part on a newly discovered manuscript written by the artist) as well as his prominence in the highly varied cultures of eighteenth-century France, Germany, and Russia.

From aristocrats to revolutionaries, actors to philosophers, Houdon's amazingly vivid portraits constitute the visual record of the Enlightenment and capture the true spirit of a remarkable age. Jean-Antoine Houdon finally gives these gorgeous works their due.

One of the leading artists of his generation, the Spanish sculptor Juan Muñoz (1953-2001) was known for his diverse and highly original body of work centering on the narrative possibilities of figures in environments. Juan Muñoz illustrates in full color approximately sixty works—including sculptures, drawings, and several major installations—which will be included in a major exhibition presented by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and the Art Institute of Chicago in October 2001.

Muñoz's early work focused on architectural objects that implied a transitory human presence. Then, defying the trend among progressive artists, he began to introduce figures into his work. Casting his figures in papier-mâché, resin, and eventually bronze, Muñoz limited their size and descriptive details to heighten their psychological impact. In the 1990s, Muñoz created his signature "conversation pieces," large ensembles of figures installed in indoor or outdoor settings. Calling upon a wide range of sources in literature, music, film, as well as painting and sculpture, Muñoz's work explores the nature of psychological interaction and engages the viewer on a variety of perceptual levels.

Juan Muñoz includes essays by Neal Benezra, art critic Michael Brenson, and Olga Viso, as well as an interview with the artist by Paul Shimmel. Also featuring highlights from a 2001 installation commissioned by London's Tate Modern, Juan Muñoz is the most comprehensive overview of this challenging and exciting artist's work.

Drawing on Freudian theories of sexuality and Kant's conception of the beautiful, French art historian Hubert Damisch considers artists as diverse as Raphael, Picasso, Watteau, and Manet to demonstrate that beauty has always been connected to ideas of sexual difference and pleasure. Damisch's tale begins with the judgment of Paris, in which Paris awards Venus the golden apple and thus forever links beauty with desire. The casting of this decision as a mistake—in which desire is rewarded over wisdom and strength—is then linked to theories of the unconscious and psychological drives. In his quest for an exposition of the beautiful in its relation to visual pleasure, Damisch employs what he terms “analytic iconology,” following the revisions and repetitions of the motif of the judgment through art history, philosophy, aesthetics, and psychoanalysis. This translation brings an important figure of the French art historical tradition to Anglo-American audiences.