Little Dancer Aged Fourteen

Little Dancer Aged Fourteen

Tate

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. But they were also moved by the work’s representation of the pain and stress of ballet training endured by a barely adolescent girl. After Degas’ death, his heirs decided to make bronze casts of the wax original.

Edgar Degas

1880

After Degas’ death, his heirs decided to make bronze casts of the wax original.

Painted bronze with muslin and silk on wooden base. Object: 984 x 419 x 365 mm, 31 kg (integral base included)

English and French

Sculpture