Edgar degas biography little dancer of fourteen

Edgar Degas (1834–1917) is considered as one of the greatest sculptors of the 19th century but remarkably, the Little Dancer Aged Fourteen is the only sculpture he exhibited in his lifetime. It is now one of the most famous sculptures and delights spectators with its sensitive portrayal of a young ballerina. The sculpture has a complex history and multi-layered meaning. When first exhibited it was controversial for reasons that we now find surprising. Yet is also has a darker side that reveals much about chauvinistic world of late 19th century Europe. A comprehensive interpretation is required for one of the most important works of art and perhaps, the first modern sculpture. [1]

The model for the Little Dancer was a young student of the Paris Opéra Ballet dance school, a Belgian named Marie van Goethem.[2] Her identity was established through a series of drawings that Degas completed as studies for the sculpture. Marie was fourteen on 1

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Edgar Degas (1834 - 1917)

Henry Havard, “L’Exposition des artistes indépendants”, Le siècle, 3 April 1881, p. 2

Gustave Goetschy, “Exposition des artistes indépendants”, La Justice, 4 April 1881, p. 3

Gustave Goetschy, “Exposition des artistes indépendants”, Le Voltaire, 5 April 1881, p. 2

Jules Claretie, “La vie à Paris: Les artistes indépendants”, Le Temps, 5 April 1881

Gustave Goetschy, “Indépendants et impressionistes [sic]”, Le Voltaire, 6 April 1880, p. 2

Auguste Dalign, “Les Indépendants. Sixième exposition”, Le Journal desArts, 8 April 1881, p. 1

Charles Ephrussi, “Exposition des artistes indépendants”, La chroniquedes arts et dem la curiosité, 16 April 1881, pp. 126-127

Élie de Mont, “L’Exposition du Boulevard des Capucines”, LaCivilisation, 21 April 1881, pp. 1-2

Bertall, “Exposition des peintres intransigeants et nihilistes”, Paris-Journal, 22 April 1881, pp. 1-2

Paul de Charry, “Les Indépendants”, Le Pays, 22 April 1881, p. 3

Paul

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The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer

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Edgar DegasFrench
Cast by A. A. Hébrard

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue inGallery 815

Edgar Degas’s famous statue of a ballerina came to the Museum as part of the bequest of Louisine Havemeyer. Together with numerous paintings and sketches by the artist, Mrs. Havemeyer donated seventy-one of his bronzes, the first nearly complete set of the artist’s works in bronze to enter any museum. [1]

The wealthy and adventurous collector’s interest in Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer dates to her first glimpse of the wax model for it on view in 1881 at the Paris Salon. Self-taught in sculpture, Degas made numerous wax models on wire armatures. The subjects —  dancers, women bathing, and horses —  also feature in his paintings, but the sculptural studies are not preparatory for specific oil canvases as much as they are independent explorations of three-dimensional f