Edgar Degas

Private Collection, Switzerland
Matthiesen, Geneva
Paul Rosenberg and Co., New York (acquired from the above on January 25, 1965)
Acquired from the above by the present owner November 14, 1966

New York, Paul Rosenberg and Co, Seven Decades 1895-1965, Cross Currents in Modern Art, April 26 to May 21, 1966, no. 16, illustrated p. 25

John Rewald, Degas: Works in Sculpture, New York, 1944, no. XXXV, catalogued p. 23; illustration of the wax p. 86, and of another cast p. 87
John Rewald, Edgar Degas, 1834-1917, Original Wax Sculptures (exhibition catalogue), M. Knoedler & Co., Inc., New York, 1955, no. 34, illustration of the wax
John Rewald and Leonard von Matt, L'Oeuvre Sculpté de Degas, Zürich, 1957, no. XXXV, catalogued p. 150; illustration of another cast pl. 37
Franco Russoli, L'Opera Completa di Degas, Milan, 1970, no. S5, illustration of another cast p. 140
John Rewald, The Complete Sculptures of Degas (exhibition catalogue), The Lefevre Gallery (Alex. Reid and Lefevre), London, 1976, no. 5, illustration of another cast
Charles Millard, The Sculpture of Degas, Princeton, 1976, no. 87, illustration of the wax
Linda D. Muehlig, Degas and the Dance (exhibition catalogue), Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, 1979, no. 33, illustration of another cast p. 46
Jacqueline and Maurice Guillaud, (eds.), Degas, Form and Space, Paris, 1984, catalogued p. 196, illustration of another cast p. 195
Ettore Camesasca and Giorgio Cortenova, Degas, Scultore (exhibition catalogue), Centro Mostre di Firenze, Comune di Verona, 1986, no. 18, illustration of another cast pp. 118 and 182
Raphael Fernandez and Alexandra R. Murphy, Degas in the Clark Collection (exhibition catalogue), The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, 1987, no. 47, illustration of the cast in the Clark Institute p. 63
John Rewald, Degas's Complete Sculpture, Catalogue Raisonné: New Edition, San Francisco, 1990, no. XXXV, illustration of the wax p. 108 and of another cast p. 109
Sara Campbell, “A Catalogue of Degas’ Bronzes,”Apollo, London, August 1995, no. 18/I, catalogued p. 20, illustration of another cast p. 19
Richard Kendall, Degas and the Little Dancer (exhibition catalogue), Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha; The Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown; The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1998, no. 51, illustration of another cast p. 161

Enlivened by the play of light over its irregular surface, the present bronze cast registers the successive layers of wax applied by the artist.  Unlike academic sculptures of the period with their smooth lifeless finish, the record of Degas’ touch animates the sculpture and suggests the vitality of the creative act.  As he stated, “It was for my own satisfaction that I modeled horses and people in wax, not to abandon painting and drawing, but to give my paintings and drawings more expression, more ardor, and more life.” (quoted in Ronald Pickvance, Degas Sculptor (exhibition catalogue), Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 1991, p. 14)  Degas often began his ballet compositions with dancers posed nude and argued that he needed to model his dancers in three dimensions as “in a drawing alone one only had a silhouette without body, without the effect of mass, without volumes.” (op. cit., p. 14)  This unique conflation of the nude and dancer categories so present throughout Degas’ oeuvre seems to suggest the classical past and pastorals of dancing nymphs, while simultaneously evoking a decidedly modern quality in its specific engagement with the particulars of a solitary figure.

The original agreement between Hébrard and Degas heirs specified that each sculpture should be issued in editions of 20 for public sale, lettered A to T. However, lettering on Hébrard's casts was not entirely consistent, possibly the result of the founder's need to pre-sell the proposed twenty examples before the expense of casting them was actually undertaken.  Thus, discrepancies could arise between casts pre-allocated to collectors and the lettered casts they ultimately received.