European Masters

Degas's only showing of sculpture during his life took place in 1881 when he exhibited The Little Fourteen Year Old Dancer, only shown again in 1920; the rest of the sculptural works remained private until a posthumous exhibition in 1918. Degas scholars have agreed that the sculptures were not created as aids to painting, although the artist habitually explored ways of linking graphic art and oil painting, drawing and pastel, sculpture and photography. Degas assigned the same significance to sculpture as to drawing: "Drawing is a way of thinking, modelling another".

After Degas's death, his heirs found in his studio 150 wax sculptures, many in disrepair. They consulted foundry owner Adrien Hébrard, who concluded that 74 of the waxes could be cast in bronze. It is assumed that, except for the Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, all Degas bronzes worldwide are cast from surmoulages (i.e., cast from bronze masters). A surmoulage bronze is a bit smaller, and shows less surface detail, than its original bronze mold. The Hébrard Foundry cast the bronzes from 1919–1936, and closed down in 1937, shortly before Hébrard's death.

In 2004, a previously unknown cache of 73 plaster casts created from wax originals sculpted by Degas was discovered. Although not previously catalogued, the casts were consistent with the 73 originals that Degas’s heirs gave to Hébrard Foundry in 1918. Art scholars are not in agreement as to what these casts actually are. Walter F. Maibaum, an authority on 19th and 20th century European art, said: “The moment I gazed upon these remarkable plasters I instantly knew that everything that had been written about Degas’ sculptures in the past had to be reconsidered”. After examining them, Dr. Gregory Hedberg, Director of European Art for Hirschl and Adler Galleries in New York, concluded that the entire group of plasters were made during Degas’s lifetime between 1887 and 1912 by the artist’s close friend Albert Bartholomé whom he entrusted with the task. It appears, from their condition and provenance, that no bronzes were ever cast from these 73 plasters.

Plans to cast the newly discovered Degas sculptures, which differ in the rendering of details from the Hébrard casts, have created disagreement among Degas scholars and admirers, some of whom are reserving judgment regarding the authenticity of the plasters

Biography Edgar Degas Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Degas sculpture
Artist: after Edgar Degas (1834-1917) Title: The Little Dancer Aged *Fourteen* *Medium: Bronze facsimile signed in plate* Height: 90cm ENLARGE Buy Now Price: $8,800	Artist: after Edgar Degas (1834-1917) Title: The Little Dancer Aged Fourteen Medium: Bronze facsimile signed in plate Height: 90m ENLARGE Buy Now Price: $8,800	Artist: after Edgar Degas (1834-1917) Musée d'Orsay Paris Title: The Little Dancer Aged Fourteen Medium: bronze in a gauze tutu ENLARGE	Artist: after Edgar Degas (1834-1917) National Gallery of Art, Washington DC Title: The Little Dancer Aged Fourteen Medium: wax in a gauze tutu ENLARGE

Edgar Degas (1834-1917) biography RETURN Edgar Degas (1834-1917) French Impressionist painter and sculptor. Degas, (Hilaire-Germain-) Edgar (b. July 19, 1834, Paris, Fr.--d. Sept. 27, 1917, Paris) French artist, acknowledged as the master of drawing the human figure in motion. Degas worked in many mediums, preferring pastel to all others. He is perhaps best known for his paintings, drawings, and bronzes of ballerinas and of race horses. The art of Degas reflects a concern for the psychology of movement and expression and the harmony of line and continuity of contour. These characteristics set Degas apart from the other impressionist painters, although he took part in all but one of the 8 impressionist exhibitions between 1874 and 1886. Degas was the son of a wealthy banker, and his aristocratic family background instilled into his early art a haughty yet sensitive quality of detachment. As he grew up, his idol was the painter Jean Auguste Ingres, whose example pointed him in the direction of a classical draftsmanship, stressing balance and clarity of outline. After beginning his artistic studies with Louis Lamothes, a pupil of Ingres, he started classes at the Ecole des Beaux Arts but left in 1854 and went to Italy. He stayed there for 5 years, studying Italian art, especially Renaissance works. RETURN Returning to Paris in 1859, he painted portraits of his family and friends and a number of historical subjects, in which he combined classical and romantic styles. In Paris, Degas came to know Édouard Manet, and in the late 1860s he turned to contemporary themes, painting both theatrical scenes and portraits with a strong emphasis on the social and intellectual implications of props and setting. In the early 1870s the female ballet dancer became his favorite theme. He sketched from a live model in his studio and combined poses into groupings that depicted rehearsal and performance scenes in which dancers on stage, entering the stage, and resting or waiting to perform are shown simultaneously and in counterpoint, often from an oblique angle of vision. On a visit in 1872 to Louisiana, where he had relatives in the cotton business, he painted The Cotton Exchange at New Orleans (finished 1873; Musée Municipal, Pau, France), his only picture to be acquired by a museum in his lifetime. Other subjects from this period include the racetrack, the beach, and cafe interiors. The art of Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas, b. Paris, July 19, 1834, d. Sept. 26, 1917, reflects a concern for the psychology of movement and expression, the harmony of line and continuity of contour. These characteristics set Degas apart from the other impressionist painters, although he took part in all but one of the 8 impressionist exhibitions between 1874 and 1886. RETURN Degas was the son of a wealthy banker, and his aristocratic family background instilled into his early art a haughty yet sensitive quality of detachment. As he grew up, his idol was the painter Jean Auguste Ingres, whose example pointed him in the direction of a classical draftsmanship, stressing balance and clarity of outline. After beginning his artistic studies with Louis Lamothes, a pupil of Ingres, he started classes at the École des Beaux Arts but left in 1854 and went to Italy. He stayed there for 5 years, studying Italian art, especially Renaissance works. Returning to Paris in 1859, he painted portraits of his family and friends and a number of historical subjects, in which he combined classical and romantic styles. In Paris, Degas came to know Edouard Manet, and in the late 1860s he turned to contemporary themes, painting both theatrical scenes and portraits with a strong emphasis on the social and intellectual implications of props and setting. In the early 1870s the female ballet dancer became his favorite theme. He sketched from a live model in his studio and combined poses into groupings that depicted rehearsal and performance scenes in which dancers on stage, entering the stage, and resting or waiting to perform are shown simultaneously and in counterpoint, often from an oblique angle of vision. On a visit in 1872 to Louisiana, where he had relatives in the cotton business, he painted The Cotton Exchange at New Orleans (finished 1873; Musée Municipal, Pau, France), his only picture to be acquired by a museum in his lifetime. Other subjects from this period include the racetrack, the beach, and cafe interiors. After 1880, PASTEL became Degas's preferred medium. He used sharper colors and gave greater attention to surface patterning, depicting milliners, laundresses, and groups of dancers against backgrounds now only sketchily indicated. For the poses, he depended more and more on memory or earlier drawings. Although he became guarded and withdrawn late in life, Degas retained strong friendships with literary people. In 1881 he exhibited a sculpture, Little Dancer (a bronze casting of which is in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), and as his eyesight failed thereafter he turned increasingly to sculpture, modeling figures and horses in wax over metal armatures. These sculptures remained in his studio in disrepair and were cast in bronze only after his death. RETURN
*Edgar Degas sculpture* RETURN *Degas's* only showing of sculpture during his life took place in 1881 when he exhibited The Little Fourteen Year Old Dancer, only shown again in 1920; the rest of the sculptural works remained private until a posthumous exhibition in 1918. Degas scholars have agreed that the sculptures were not created as aids to painting, although the artist habitually explored ways of linking graphic art and oil painting, drawing and pastel, sculpture and photography. Degas assigned the same significance to sculpture as to drawing: "Drawing is a way of thinking, modelling another". After Degas's death, his heirs found in his studio 150 wax sculptures, many in disrepair. They consulted foundry owner Adrien Hébrard, who concluded that 74 of the waxes could be cast in bronze. It is assumed that, except for the Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, all Degas bronzes worldwide are cast from surmoulages (i.e., cast from bronze masters). A surmoulage bronze is a bit smaller, and shows less surface detail, than its original bronze mold. The Hébrard Foundry cast the bronzes from 1919–1936, and closed down in 1937, shortly before Hébrard's death. In 2004, a previously unknown cache of 73 plaster casts created from wax originals sculpted by Degas was discovered. Although not previously catalogued, the casts were consistent with the 73 originals that Degas’s heirs gave to Hébrard Foundry in 1918. Art scholars are not in agreement as to what these casts actually are. Walter F. Maibaum, an authority on 19th and 20th century European art, said: “The moment I gazed upon these remarkable plasters I instantly knew that everything that had been written about Degas’ sculptures in the past had to be reconsidered”. After examining them, Dr. Gregory Hedberg, Director of European Art for Hirschl and Adler Galleries in New York, concluded that the entire group of plasters were made during Degas’s lifetime between 1887 and 1912 by the artist’s close friend Albert Bartholomé whom he entrusted with the task. It appears, from their condition and provenance, that no bronzes were ever cast from these 73 plasters. Plans to cast the newly discovered Degas sculptures, which differ in the rendering of details from the Hébrard casts, have created disagreement among Degas scholars and admirers, some of whom are reserving judgment regarding the authenticity of the plasters *RETURN*
The Little Dancer Aged Fourteen the Musée d’Orsay, Paris done circa 1880-1881. RETURN The original wax sculpture is now on permanent display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. First exhibited in 1881 in wax, costumed in a gauze tutu with a silk bodice, fabric ballet slippers and real hair wig, “The Little Dancer Aged Fourteen,” by Edgar Degas (1834 – 1917) is in the style of Impressionism. The sculpture is 2/3 life size. The artist’s model was Marie von Goethem, a student of the Ballet de l'Opera, Paris, France. After Degas’ death, the original wax sculpture was made into twenty eight plaster and bronze casts, displayed in museums around the world. The original wax sculpture is now on permanent display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. Susan Kramer BellaOnline's Doll Making Editor took this photograph of “The Little Dancer Aged Fourteen” (1880-1881) at the Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France, September 2001. RETURN
The original wax sculpture is now on permanent display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C RETURN
Frequently asked questions RETURN About Bronze facsimiles bronze facsimiles are sold for a fraction of the price tag of a limited edition price and also, it is an insignificant price weigh against the cost of the original. A Facsimile is a imitation replica only and should be enjoyed just for what it is. facsimiles are NOT art investment. Unlike a *designer handbag which is the exact replica of the original, a facsimile is NOT an exact copy of the original and not meant to be.* Due to the high production cost, the price of a bronze facsimile is higher than a paper facsimile (the cost of of bronze, the cost of Rubber forms and the ceramic forms, casting, and also, the cost to of running specialized bronze foundries is high. *When a Facsimile is done?* *Facsimiles* *are produced after the artist passed away so artist has no involvement whatsoever in the production.* *Signature in Plate* *The artist pass away thus the signature is in plate*. The 'patina' colorization of a sculpture The patina “colorization” is made in the foundry by applying chemicals. at what foundry a Facsimile is produced? Facsimiles are sold with no information about the foundry or when were produced. When limited edition is done? A limited edition is done when the artist is alive. And a limited edition is intentionally made to differ from the original. How a bronze sculpture is made? The original sculpture is made in clay or plaster an is not for sale. From a “clay form” a wax is taken, the negative of the clay. To produce a bronze the foundry makes a special ceramic forms. The hot wax is purred into the ceramic forms and sand is deposited inside the wax, then hot bronze is purred into the ceramic form. As the wax melts, hot bronze replaces the wax that is why a the method is called a “wax lost method”. RETURN

Title: The Little Dancer Aged Fourteen (1) Medium: Bronze facsimile signed in plate Height: 90cm RETURN NOTES: Bronze facsimile signed in plate can be purchased for a fraction of the original The Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. The original Little Dancer Aged Fourteen was first exhibited in 1881 in wax in the Clark Institute DEGAS costumed in a gauze tutu with a silk bodice, fabric ballet slippers and real hair wig, see below. After Degas’ death, the wax sculpture was made into twenty eight plaster and Bronze Sculpture Sculpture casts, displayed in museums around the world. Edgar Degas (1834 – 1917) artist’s model was Marie von Goethem, she was a student of the Ballet de l'Opera in Paris.

Title: The Little Dancer Aged Fourteen (2) Medium: Bronze facsimile signed in plate Height: 90cm RETURN NOTES: Bronze facsimile signed in plate can be purchased for a fraction of the original The Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. The original Little Dancer Aged Fourteen was first exhibited in 1881 in wax in the Clark Institute DEGAS costumed in a gauze tutu with a silk bodice, fabric ballet slippers and real hair wig, see below. After Degas’ death, the wax sculpture was made into twenty eight plaster and Bronze Sculpture Sculpture casts, displayed in museums around the world. Edgar Degas (1834 – 1917) artist’s model was Marie von Goethem, she was a student of the Ballet de l'Opera in Paris.

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