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Little Dancer, aged fourteen

Edgar Degas1880-1881 - 1922

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Rotterdam, Netherlands

The model for this sculpture was Marie van Goethem, a fourteen-year-old ballet student at the Opéra in Paris. Edgar Degas was charmed by these young dancers, who were known as petits rats. Between 1880 and 1883, he was often to be found sketching them in class.

Degas made three-dimensional works as well as sketches and paintings. He fashioned scores of small wax figures, the first dating from 1870. Before making the mould for Marie, he worked out the pose by sketching her from several vantage points. She stands with her right foot extended at an angle and her chest thrust slightly forward, giving the body a certain tension. The wax figures served primarily as studies and were in principle not intended for exhibition. However, Degas made an exception in this case and presented the study of Marie at the Impressionist exhibition of 1881. The public were shocked by its realism and the critics were scathing. The figure was dismissed as resembling a ‘monkey’ and, worse still, ‘a monster from a zoological museum’. more information

Degas considered many of his sculptures as simply study material for his paintings and not as final works. The art-dealer Durand-Ruel found more than eighty wax and clay models in Degas' studio after the artist died. The works were in a poor condition. Durand-Ruel made a selection and finally had 72 sculptures cast in bronze by Adrien A. Hébrard. Twenty-five copies of the sculpture of the dancer were also produced. The main difference with the original wax version is that the hair, the shoes and the blouse are cast in bronze. The hair ribbon and the skirt are still executed in fabric. One of Degas' nieces was responsible for choosing the clothing for the bronze versions. Later these versions were restored and museums themselves made choices about the fabric and the shape of the skirt and hair ribbon. The current ribbon and skirt of the dancer in the collection of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen were last replaced in 1990.

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  • Title: Little Dancer, aged fourteen
  • Creator Lifespan: 1834 - 1917
  • Creator Nationality: French
  • Creator Gender: Male
  • Creator Death Place: Paris, France
  • Creator Birth Place: Paris, France
  • Date Created: 1880-1881 - 1922
  • Style: Impressionism
  • Sculptor: Edgar Hilaire Germain Degas
  • Physical Dimensions: h980 cm
  • Original Title: Petite danseuse de quatorze ans
  • More Info: Link - Read more about Impressionism - Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen - http://collectie.boijmans.nl/en/disclaimer/
  • Artist Information: Edgar Hilaire Germain Degas was admitted to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts of Paris in 1855. He took a number of study trips to Italy and initially painted mainly portraits and historical pieces. Classical influences can clearly be seen in much of his work. After 1860, his work increasingly shows the influence of the impressionists, with whom Degas spent much time. He became especially famous as a painter and drawer of ballet dancers and bathing women, works in which he wanted to capture the movements of the human body. Around 1880 he started modelling in clay as a study for his paintings. Only at a later age, when his sight began to fail, did Degas concentrate more and more on sculpture.
  • Type: Sculpture
  • Rights: Lent by Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen 1939, http://collectie.boijmans.nl/en/disclaimer/
  • External Link: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
  • Medium: Bronze and textile
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen

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