Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-12-19
HOUDONS BUST OF WASHINGTON
TO BE OFFICIALLY PRODUCED
Most Authentic Likeness Will
Be Placed in Pan-Ameri-
can Building.
Copy in Marble Has Been
Authorized by Congress
After Many Years.

Proclaimed officially the best like.
ness of George Washington in exist
ence, the plaster bust of the first
President by Jean Antoine Houdon,
made in 1855 at Mount Vernon, and
now reposing in the relic room there,
may at last be taken out of It's case
to become the subject of a permanent
and enduring bust of Washington in
marble.
Negotiations are now under way
between the State Department and
the regents of Mount Vernon to pro-
cure permission to make a copy of the
priceless Houdon bust. made by a
World-famouS sculptor cotemporary
of Washington from life, while the
artist was a guest at Mount Vernon.
When permission to make the copy
is secured, and the bust made, 1t will
be deposited in the Hall of the Amer
lcas of the Pan-American Union as
the gift of the United States A bust
of Washington. said to be not as au-
thoritative as the Houdon bust. has
stood in the Hall of the Americas for
many years, having been loaned to
the Pan-American Union by Mrs.
Henry F. Dimock of Washington
congress has already provided the
necessary authorization to make the
copy, and has authorized an expendi-
ture of 81 900 for the bust and a suit
able base.
Creation of a copy Of the Houdon
bust is declared by Chairman Charles
Moore of the Commission of Fine
Arts to open an opportunity for ac-
comprising q great service to art
and history. There are, as far as is
known, only three copies of the Hou-
nf I'D @~~
One, whose whereabouts came to light
only recently, is of marble, the prop
'erty of the widow of Admiral Daven-
port. which belonged to Lord Napier,
when he was Ambassador to the
United States from Great Britain.
Another rests in the Louvre in Paris,
while another is said to be in the pri-
vate collection of j. Pierpont Morgan.
Criticism Was Heard.
Considerable criticism has been
caused, Director l.. S. Rowe of the
Pan-American Union wrote to Charles
r. Hughes, Secretary of State in 1922,
by the lack of a suitable bust of
Washington in the Hall of the Amer
icas. Mr.. Rowe's letter opened the
negotiations, which now appear ready
to bear fruit.
Kellogg wrote the Commission Of Fine
Arts asking their advice on the cost
OF making a reproduction, and seek
ing the name of a person or firm to
whom the making of 1t could be in.
trusted. The commission, under date
of December 8, in a letter signed by
Chairman Moore, declared the Hou-
don bust the best likeness of George
Washington in existence, and went
into many details touching on the
steps leading up to the creation OF
the bust and the human relations be-
tween the artist and the subject when
the great French sculptor came to
Mount Vernon for the express pur-
pose of memorializing the first Presi-
dent in enduring material.
Houdon was selected, Mr.. Moore
wrote in his exhaustive and interest
ing historical sketch of the creation
OF the bust, by Thomas Jefferson and
Benjamin Franklin to come to Amer
lea to make a direct study Of George
Washington for the purpose of ex-
ecuting a standing figure Of Wash
ington for the State Of Virginia. The
voyage would not have been made
had 1t not been for an implied prom
Use that Houdon would also do an
equestrian statue of Washington,