Little Dancer by Degas

 

LITTLE DANCER AGED FOURTEEN by Degas

Degas displayed the wax figure after which this bronze was cast at the sixth impressionist exhibition, in 1881. The only sculpture that he ever presented publicly, the work caused an uproar for its frank realism and use of materials. In depicting Marie van Goethem, one of the lower-class girls training at the Paris Opera Ballet, Degas fashioned the figure out of real materials, including a linen bodice, muslin tutu, satin dance slippers, a wig made of actual hair, and a ribbon to keep it in place. Her worn body, uneven skin, and wrinkled stockings challenged the idealizing tendencies typical of sculpture of the period. Such naturalism prompted the novelist and critic Joris-Karl Huysmans to exclaim, “M. Degas has overthrown the tradition of sculpture, as he has long since shaken the conventions of painting.” Following the artist’s death, the Hébrard foundry cast at least two dozen bronzes after the original, of which this is the third.

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1943.1128

People

Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, French (Paris, France 1834 - 1917 Paris, France) 

Title

Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen

Other Titles

Original Language Title: Petite danseuse de quatorze ans / La Grande Danseuse

Classification

Sculpture

Work Type

sculpture

Date

1880

Culture

French

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/230005

Location

Location

Level 2, Room 2700, European and American Art, 19th century, Impressionism and the Late Nineteenth Century

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Bronze with tulle skirt and satin hair ribbon

Technique

Cast, lost-wax process

Dimensions

99.1 x 35.6 x 35.6 cm (39 x 14 x 14 in.)

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