Harvard Art Museums > 1943.1128: Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen Sculpture Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen (Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas) , 1943.1128,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, Dec 07, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/230005. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Gallery Text Degas displayed the wax figure after which this bronze was cast at the sixth impressionist exhibition, in 1881. The only sculpture that he ever presented publicly, the work caused an uproar for its frank realism and use of materials. In depicting Marie van Goethem, one of the lower-class girls training at the Paris Opera Ballet, Degas fashioned the figure out of real materials, including a linen bodice, muslin tutu, satin dance slippers, a wig made of actual hair, and a ribbon to keep it in place. Her worn body, uneven skin, and wrinkled stockings challenged the idealizing tendencies typical of sculpture of the period. Such naturalism prompted the novelist and critic Joris-Karl Huysmans to exclaim, “M. Degas has overthrown the tradition of sculpture, as he has long since shaken the conventions of painting.” Following the artist’s death, the Hébrard foundry cast at least two dozen bronzes after the original, of which this is the third. Identification and Creation Object Number 1943.1128 People Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas, French (Paris, France 1834 - 1917 Paris, France) Title Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen Other Titles Original Language Title: Petite danseuse de quatorze ans / La Grande Danseuse Classification Sculpture Work Type sculpture Date 1880 Culture French Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/230005 Location Location Level 2, Room 2700, European and American Art, 19th century, Impressionism and the Late Nineteenth Century View this object's location on our interactive map Physical Descriptions Medium Bronze with tulle skirt and satin hair ribbon Technique Cast, lost-wax process Dimensions 99.1 x 35.6 x 35.6 cm (39 x 14 x 14 in.) Inscriptions and Marks stamp: left thigh, stamped, relief: CIRE / PERDUE / AA HÉBRARD foundry mark: left thigh, stamped, relief: C Provenance Recorded Ownership History Steven C. Clark. [Scott & Fowles, New York, NY], sold; to Grenville Lindall Winthrop, New York, NY, 1924, bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1943. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Grenville L. Winthrop Accession Year 1943 Object Number 1943.1128 Division European and American Art Contact am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu Permissions THIS WORK MAY NOT BE LENT BY THE TERMS OF ITS ACQUISITION TO THE HARVARD ART MUSEUMS. The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Publication History Barbaranell Hymes, "Degas' Wit", The Christian Science Monitor (January 14, 1975), repr. [unpaginated?] Caroline A. Jones, Modern Art at Harvard: The Formation of the Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Collections of the Harvard University Art Museums (New York, NY and Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Art Museums and Abbeville Press, 1985). With an essay by John Coolidge and a preface by John M. Rosenfield. To accompany the inaugural exhibition at the Sackler Museum, Oct 21 1985 - Jan 5 1986, no. 48, repr. Kristin A. Mortimer and William G. Klingelhofer, Harvard University Art Museums: A Guide to the Collections, Harvard University Art Museums and Abbeville Press (Cambridge and New York, 1986), no. 147, p. 130, repr. Sara Campbell, "A Catalogue of Degas' Bronzes", Apollo (New Series) (August 1995), vol. CXLII, no. 402, p. 47 Sara Campbell, "Une Danseuse et Trente Tutus", La Revue du Musée d'Orsay, Musée d'Orsay (Paris, France, Autumn 1998), 48/14, no. 7, p. 69; repr. in b/w p. 70, fig. 7 Harry Cooper, Sharon Hecker, Henry Lie, and Derek Pullen, Medardo Rosso: Second Impressions, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums and Yale University Press (U.S.) (Cambridge, MA and New Haven, CT, 2003), p. 35, fig. 23 Jon Garelick, "Abstract Thoughts: The Transitional and Transcendent Art of Edgar Degas at the Sackler Museum", The Boston Phoenix (August 5 2005), p. 18, p. 18 Casey N. Cep, "Curator Defends 'Fake' Degas", The Harvard Crimson (October 28 2005), p. B3, repr. p. B3 Kate Ledogar, "'Degas at Harvard,' at the Sackler", The Weekly Dig (October 26 2005), p. 50, p. 50, ill. Christine Temin, "Degas Show at Harvard gives Insight into Cuno", Chicago Tribune (September 4 2005) Keith Powers, "Degas Vu", Cambridge Chronicle (October 20 2005), p. 17, p. 17, repr. Richard Kendall, "Degas", The Burlington Magazine (December 2005), CXLVII, pp. 847-848, p. 847 "Distinguished Collection of Degas Masterworks Opens", website, August 4 2005, repr. Christopher Reed, "Mad for Degas", Harvard Magazine (July 2005 - August 2005), vol. 107, no. 6, pp. 40-45, p. 42, ill. "MemberCard Best Bets", GBH: The Members' Guide (August 2005), repr. Bob Jackman, "Shades of Degas", The Patriot Ledger (August 6 2005-August 7 2005), pp. 39-40, repr. p. 39 [Reproduction only], "This Week", The Boston Globe, (November 24 2005)., p. 13 Meredith Goldstein, "Viva el Degas", The Boston Globe (August 1 2005), Page 1 of "Sidekick" section, repr. p. 1 Marjorie B. Cohn and Jean Sutherland Boggs, Degas at Harvard, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums/Yale University Press (Cambridge and New Haven, 2005), pp. 39-40; repr. in color as fig. 23, p . 45; p. 89; no. 11, p. 100 Michael Conforti, James A. Ganz, and Neil Harris, The Clark Brothers Collect: Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings, exh. cat., Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute/Yale University Press (Williamstown, MA, 2006), p. 322 Exhibition History Modern Art at Harvard, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/21/1985 - 01/05/1986 Degas at Harvard, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 08/01/2005 - 11/27/2005 Modern Art and Modernity, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/31/2013 - 06/01/2013 32Q: 2700 Impressionism, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050 Subjects and Contexts Google Art Project Related Articles Long-Lost Look-Alikes January 8, 2014 Memories and Hopes for the Museums Colleen O'Leary May 21, 2014 Trained at the Museums: Ariel O’Connor June 20, 2014 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu