Houdon and Canova at the origins of the monumental sculpture of the USA

The beginning of XIX century should be regarded as the time, when the origin of national tradition in sculpture was laid, as well as implementation of it into cultural consciousness, public space and art education. The appearance on the historical scene of such mythologized during the lifetime f gures as G. Washington, B. Franklin, T. Jef erson promoted the appeal to the portraiture and monumental sculpture. Analyzed in the article monuments of G. Washington as national leader were installed in the Capitols of Richmond, Virginia, and Raleigh, North Carolina. They were executed by two leading European sculptors of the time J.- A. Houdon and A. Canova for the newly born republic of United States of America in the early republican period (end of XVIII – early XIX century). They can be considered the starting point of realistic conception (H. K. Brown, D. Q. A. Ward, D. C. French) and academic neoclassicism (J. Frazee, T. Crawford, H. Greenough) for establishing the national tradition in the art of sculpture in XIX century. Submitted material of the article f lls in the lack of research in the f eld of American sculpture