[Sculpture] The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer
By Edgar Degas (1834-1917)
1880
This is one of my all time favourite art pieces that I have loved since a very young age! I think I must have loved the innocence and beauty of the stucture, and was inspired by the use of various highly relevant medium, so much I did my own mixed-media painting of it. He carved her with wax, using a real ballet dress and shoes, and horse hair for the hair.
I just read an article in The Guardian that said one of the sculptures (he did a few variations of it) was sold for £5m five years ago, and is now back in the transfer market at £12million. Gutted I'll probably never get to own one! But I saw her last summer at the Liverpool Tate, and she can also be seen in the musee d'Orsay in Paris.
Ooh I'm going to the Liverpool Tate, hopefully will see it! There was a programme on about this sculpture on the BBC a few years ago, I remember it was fascinating. My favourite thing about it is the expression in the pose. Could you upload your painting of it? I'd like to see :)
ReplyDeleteI'm also going to the Liverpool Tate soon, but I'm unsure whether the sculpture is still there...
ReplyDeleteI've uploaded my painting, but don't expect too much as it was a study from years ago! I will definitely have to look for that BBC programme on the internet.
About the posture of the sculpture though- I read an article by a professional ballet dancer who criticised her pose and said that "she's leaning back a bit too much", which only made me like it even more! Knowing that enhances her innocence of her confident pose- I think Degas has captured this well.