Where is degas little dancer statue

And this year, Degas had brought it to the exhibition late, fourteen days after the opening. An empty glass case, the subject of much speculation, stood in as a placeholder, while rumors circulated that the sculpture would not be in marble or bronze, nor even in plaster or wood, but in wax.

Normally, wax is a stage in the process of making the final work, but the artist was choosing here to exhibit it as the end product. And it would be dressed in real clothes, like a doll. Wearing actual ballet slippers. What an oddity! Finally, the public was getting a chance to see it! In the midst of canvases by Pissarro, Cassatt, Gauguin, the figure stood in a glass case, which further piqued curiosity. They pressed forward eagerly, approaching their faces, their monocles, to the transparent divider; they frowned, they backed away, what the devil, hesitated, and either fled or stood transfixed.

Almost all who saw it, sensitive and cultured as they were, reacted with horror to the Little Dancer. What a monster! Said others. An abortion! An ape! She would look better in a zoological museum, opined a countess. She has the depraved look of a criminal, said another. Such depravity! Such ugliness! The work and the model were conjoined in a single tide of disapproval, a wave of hostility and hatred whose virulence surprises us today.

Once on view, the Little Dancer was exposed—as was the little dancer who modeled for Degas—to public stares and condemnation, to esthetic tastes and moral distaste. Havemeyer , New York —d. New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Havemeyer Collection," March 10—November 2, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais.

National Gallery of Canada. The Met Collection API is where all makers, creators, researchers, and dreamers can now connect to the most up-to-date data and images for more than , artworks in The Met collection.

Learn more. Splendid Legacy: The Havemeyer Collection. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Making The Met, — Like Life: Sculpture, Color, and the Body. The Janice H. Levin Collection of French Art. License this image. The model for this sculpture was ballet student Marie Van Goethem. Degas first made a wax sculpture of her in the nude. Then, aiming for a naturalistic effect, he dressed it in clothing made of real fabrics.

When the wax sculpture was first exhibited, contemporaries were shocked by the unprecedented realism of the piece. Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change?

We would like to hear from you. Read more. Huysmans, L'Art Moderne Paris , pp. Lemoisne, Degas Paris n. XX, pp. As Charles W. Millard has pointed out, her identity is established by a drawing in the Louvre clearly done as a study for the sculpture which is annotated at the top, in the artist's hand, '36 rue de Douai Marie', coupled with the fact that Degas' notebook 2 Reff contains the address 'Marie Van Gutten 36 rue de Douai'.

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