Edgar Degas
Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen
1880-1920
Scroll
Edgar Degas
Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen
1880-1920
Physical Qualities
Bronze with fabric, 38 x 19 1/4 x 19 13/16 in. (96.5 x 48.9 x 50.3 cm.)
Credit Line
Alice Morawetz Bequest Fund
Object Number
1943.1
The model for Little Dancer was Marie van Goethem, daughter of a Belgian laundress and tailor. She was born on February 17, 1864, and was fourteen when Degas began his studies for this work. It was not until 1888 that she made her debut as a ballerina at the Paris Opéra. She subsequently pursued a career as an artist’s model and frequented the bohemian haunts of Montmartre.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by purchase, 1943; M. Knoedler & Co., New York; Mademoiselle J. Fevre (Degas niece)
Matisse, Picasso, and the School of Paris
Cone Refresh
Cone Wing Rotations 2020
Cone Wing Rotations 2021
Cone Wing Rotations 2022
Cone Wing Rotations 2023
Cone Wing Rotations 2024
Cone Wing Rotations 2025
Degas exhibition, Paris, catalogue, 1931, p. 124
Baltimore Museum of Art News, May 1943, p. 4, ill.
"A Picture Book," Baltimore Museum of Art, 1955, ill.
Charles Seymour, Jr., "Tradition and Experiment in Modern Sculpture," Washington, D.C.: American University Press, p. 45
John Rewald, transl. J. Coleman and N. Moulton, "Degas: Sculpture, the Complete Works," New York: Abrams 1956, no. 20
K. R. Greenfield, 'The Museum: Its First Half Century,' "Annual I," Baltimore Museum of Art, 1966, p. 49.
Sara Campbll, 'A Catalogue of Degas' Bronzes,' "Apollo," August 1995: p. 46-47, ill. p. 46.
June Hargrove, "Degas's Little 14 Year Old Dancer: Madonna of the Third Republic?", The Sculpture Journal 2, October 1997, p. 1-9
Deborah Solomon, 'In a Solo Turn, a Tempest Over a Famed Tutu,' "New York Times," May 31, 1998, illus.
Richard Kendall, "Degas and the Little Dancer", Joslyn Art Museum, 1998, p. 175, illustrated back cover.
Joseph Czestochowski and Anne Pingeot, "Degas Sculptures: Catalogue Raisonne of the Bronzes," New York: Torch Press and International Arts, 2002, 267.
'A Coup for Naples,' "Naples Daily News," 2/4/2005, pp. 7A, 7D, ill.
'60 Objects Countless Stories,' "BMA Today," Winter 2008-2009, pp. 6-7, ill. p. 6.
"Family Fun," BMA Today, Summer 2010, p. 15, ill.
Baltimore Museum of Art. The Baltimore Museum of Art: Celebrating a Museum. Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 2014.
Karen Wilkin, 'A Degas Doubleheader,' "The New Criterion," September 1998, pp. 35-41.
'Tutu Wars,' "The Art Newspaper," no. 89, February 1999, p. 55 [for discussion of skirt length]
'Tempest over a Tutu', New York Times, May 1998. [for discussion of skirt length]
'Tutu Wars,' "The Art Newspaper," no. 89, February 1999, p. 55 [for discussion of skirt length]
'Tempest over a Tutu', New York Times, May 1998. [for discussion of skirt length]
On View at the BMA
