Dancer, Ready to Dance, Right Foot Forward
Dancer ready to Dance
Maker
(Artists)
1834-1917
(Foundry)
1834-1917
(Foundry)
Title
Dancer, Ready to Dance, Right Foot Forward
Dancer ready to Dance
Dancer ready to Dance
Date of Production
c. 1885
Medium
bronze
Dimensions
Height: 56.3 cm
Width: 32.6 cm
Width: 32.6 cm
Accession Number
S.2006.LB.1
Mode of Acquisition
HM Government (Acceptance in Lieu), allocation, 2006
Credit
Accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Samuel Courtauld Trust, 2006.
Location
On display
Keywords
Label Text
About 150 clay and wax sculptures, mostly of dancers and horses, were discovered in Edgar Degas’s studio after his death. His family had a number of these cast in bronze.
Private and experimental works, the originals were often strengthened with ordinary items such as cork or matches. Here, a bit of wire sticks out of the dancer’s right hand.
From the late 1860s Degas took up sculpture, focusing in particular on ballerinas. Degas modelled his figures in a highly malleable mixture of wax and clay, using ordinary things like matchsticks, wire and wine corks to strengthen them. Here a bit of wire used as an armature is visible poking out of the right hand. Degas never had any of his sculpture cast in bronze.
Private and experimental works, the originals were often strengthened with ordinary items such as cork or matches. Here, a bit of wire sticks out of the dancer’s right hand.
From the late 1860s Degas took up sculpture, focusing in particular on ballerinas. Degas modelled his figures in a highly malleable mixture of wax and clay, using ordinary things like matchsticks, wire and wine corks to strengthen them. Here a bit of wire used as an armature is visible poking out of the right hand. Degas never had any of his sculpture cast in bronze.
Provenance
Walther Halvorsen, London, 1923; bought by Lillian Browse from Colnaghi London, after 1949; Accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Samuel Courtauld Trust, 2006.
Exhibition History
Masterpieces of Impressionism from The Courtauld Gallery, Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan, 10/09/2019-15/12/2019; Aichi Prefectural Museum, Nagoya, Japan, 03/01/2020-15/03/2020; Kobe City Museum, Kobe, Japan, 28/03/2020-21/06/2020
Courtauld Connects Regional Programme (Pilot) - Degas' Dancers, Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry, 11/03/2016-19/06/2016
Summer Showcase - Unfinished, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 18/06/2015-20/09/2015 ...More
Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes, 1909-29, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 25/09/2010-16/01/2011
The Courtauld Collects - 20 Years of Acquisitions, Somerset House & London & England, 17/06/2010-19/09/2010
Lillian Browse Memorial Exhibition, Browse and Darby, London, 27/11/2006-01/12/2006
A Private Collection of late 19th and 20th century Paintings and
Sculpture, Courtauld Gallery, London, 12/02/1983-10/04/1983 ...Less
Courtauld Connects Regional Programme (Pilot) - Degas' Dancers, Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry, 11/03/2016-19/06/2016
Summer Showcase - Unfinished, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 18/06/2015-20/09/2015 ...More
Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes, 1909-29, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 25/09/2010-16/01/2011
The Courtauld Collects - 20 Years of Acquisitions, Somerset House & London & England, 17/06/2010-19/09/2010
Lillian Browse Memorial Exhibition, Browse and Darby, London, 27/11/2006-01/12/2006
A Private Collection of late 19th and 20th century Paintings and
Sculpture, Courtauld Gallery, London, 12/02/1983-10/04/1983 ...Less
Literature
A Private Collection of late 19th and 20th century Paintings and Sculpture, Courtauld Institute Gallery, London, 1983
cat. no. 74
cat. no. 74
Inscriptions
Inscription: Degas signature stamped on base
Inscription: inscription : numbered and stamped with the foundry mark : on base : : 57/K Cire Perdue A.A. Hébrard //
Inscription: inscription : numbered and stamped with the foundry mark : on base : : 57/K Cire Perdue A.A. Hébrard //
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