(Degas has used pigmented beeswax, clay, metal armature, rope, paintbrushes, human hair, silk and linen ribbon, cotton faille bodice, cotton and silk tutu, linen slippers and a wooden base for the original sculpture done sometime in 1878 to 1881 )
This sculpture kept in a glass casket , is a prized possession with The National Gallery of Art , Washington DC. This was the second prominent artefact shown to us by our guide inside the museum on 6th July 2024. The guide said this :-
Degas’s experimentation is unsurpassed in 19th-century French art, whether he was making pastels, drawings, prints, sculptures, or paintings. The Little Dancer Fourteen-Year-Old (French: La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans) is a sculpture by Degas that depicts a young student of the Paris Opera Ballet dance school, a Belgian girl named Marie van Goethem. Marie van Goethem, the model for the figure, was the daughter of a poor Belgian tailor and a laundress; her working–class background was typical of the Paris Opera school's ballerinas.
Bronze replicas of Edgar Degas’s Little Dancer Aged Fourteen fill museums around the world. But the artist himself only created one Little Dancer. Made of beeswax, clay, metal, wood, and rope, the sculpture stands proudly in The National Gellery of Art ,Washington DC . Done in wax and wearing a real bodice, stockings, shoes, tulle skirt, and horsehair wig with a satin ribbon, the figure astonished Degas' contemporaries, not only for its unorthodox use of materials, but also and above all for its realism, judged brutish by some. This 3 feet sculpture forced viewers to confront the seamy side of the ballet, the cultural institution at the center of metropolitan life. In those times, the ballet dancers came from working-class families and were popularly understood to be vulnerable to moral corruption at the hands of well-off suitors.
The Little Dancer is a very poignant, deeply felt work of art in which a little girl of fourteen, in spite of the difficult position in which she is placed, both physically and psychologically, struggles for a measure of dignity: her head is held high, though her arms and hands are uncomfortably stretched behind her back.
When exhibited, a prominent art critic wrote, “I don’t ask that art should always be elegant, but I don’t believe that its role is to champion the cause of ugliness.” Some critics called it “repulsive,” “vicious,” and “a threat to society.” It is said one father cried, 'God forbid my daughter should become a dancer.' Degas added to the controversy by exhibiting it like an anthropological specimen in a glass vitrine.
After Degas died in 1917, his heirs discovered Little Dancer in his studio. They commissioned the bronze casts which most are familiar with today. In the 100 years since the bronzes were made, public opinion of the sculpture has swung in the opposite direction from reviled to admired and made iconic. About this sculpture of Degas, Eric Gibson writes this in 'Wall Street Journal ' :-
" ' Little Dancer' is one of the most bewitching and mysterious works in the entire canon of modern art. In part this is due to the contrast between the in-your-face realism of the dancer’s attire and the mood of psychological withdrawal created by her facial expression, with its half-closed eyes. But it also has to do with the work’s history and the circumstances of its creation."
Degas developed distinctive compositional techniques, viewing scenes from unexpected angles and framing them unconventionally. He experimented with a variety of media, including pastels, photography, and monotypes, and he used novel combinations of materials in his works on paper and canvas and in his sculptures. He primarily viewed his sculpture as a means of researching movement and publicly exhibited only one, Little Dancer Aged Fourteen (1878–1881).Outside a close circle of friends, Degas’ fascination with making sculpture was little known during his lifetime. His sculptural work was largely private and when his studio was inventoried after his death in 1917, more than 150 sculptures, mostly in wax, were discovered. Many were in pieces and badly deteriorated but more than 70—representing mostly dancers, horses, and women—were salvaged and repaired
Despite his long and fruitful association with the impressionists, Degas preferred to be called a realist. His focus on urban subjects, artificial light, and careful drawing distinguished him from other impressionists, such as Claude Monet, who worked outdoors, painting directly from their subjects. A steely observer of everyday scenes, Degas tirelessly analyzed positions, gestures, and movement.
Degas was close to many woman though he never married and remained devoted to his art. Notable women in his life could be listed as Helena Valpincon,Mary Cassatt,Suzanne Valadon, and Jeanne Fevre. Jeanne was his niece and discharged the role of his housekeeper. Mary Cassatt was an American artist. Helena and Suzanne were the subjects of his many portraits. He was known to be a smoker who also loved Absinthe, a highly alcoholic drink popular among artists and writers in 19th-century France. Edgar Degas died of heart disease on September 27, 1917, at the age of 83. Degas's paintings fetch astronomical prices in the art markets. His painting "Dancer in Repose" was sold for approximately $37 million in 2008.
I saw the book ,LITTLE DANCER -THE DEGAS POEMS by Lyn Lifshin. This 40 page book has 29 poems . Through these poems, the poet Lyn Lifshin, imagines and explores the world of Marie Van Goethem, the "Little Dancer" sculpted by Edgar Degas. Lyn Lifshin's poems celebrate her creation as a symbol of so many young and impoverished French female dancers who attempted to fill our world with grace, energy, and beauty. I end this write up her poem , 'The Little Dancer ' ;
( The Little Dancer )
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