An important figure of Impressionism, prolific sculptor and often nicknamed the painter of dancers, Edgar Degas produced more than 1,500 paintings representing the little ballerinas of the Paris Opera. However, it was not one of his paintings that caused a stir at Christie's evening sale on May 12, but his three-dimensional work Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans (Fourteen year old dancer), a delicate bronze with a brown patina dated 1927.
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Coming from the Anne Bass collection, which also included three paintings by Monet, the sculpture fetched $41.2 million, surpassing its estimate of $20-30 million and thus becoming the most expensive work of the artist ever sold at auction. Degas' previous record was held by the pastel and gouache on joined paper Danseuse au repos, sold for $37 million in 2008 at Sotheby's. The last record for a sculpture by the artist had been established by another version of the dancer, sold at Christie's in 2015 for $24 million.
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Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans is a well-known creation by Degas, which was first cast in wax, then dressed in a real tutu, bodice and slippers, before being exhibited at the sixth Impressionist exhibition of 1881. Poorly received by critics, who considered it ugly and even indecent, the sculpture was the last exhibited by Degas during his lifetime. It was cast in bronze after the artist's death in 1917, and today there are 29 examples shown in museums. The original wax version is kept at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.
The bronze copy presented at Christie's, which was on a world tour in the form of a hologram before the sale, sports a chiffon skirt, a satin ribbon and rests on a wooden base. It was cast by the French founder Adrien-Aurélien Hébrard in 1927, ten years after the death of the artist. Passed through the hands of several collectors over the years, it finally joined the collection of American art patron and businesswoman Anne Bass, who died in 2020.
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The subject of the sculpture was Marie van Goethem, a Paris Opera dancer from Belgium who posed for Degas beginning in 1878 to earn some money, and the rehearsals and the moments in the wings before the performances are among the moments that particularly fascinated Degas. Mastering the art of close-ups, unique perspectives and the effects of lighting in his painting, Degas favored natural gestures in his sculptures. This is how Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans appears with her arms behind her back, her chin raised, in the traditional resting posture of ballerinas. While this may seem nothing spectacular compared to the prowess that the artist has immortalized on canvas, this work has endured as an emblem of the art historical canon, confirming Degas' definitive skill.
The evening sale held at Christie's also set a new record for a Pablo Picasso sculpture with Head of a Woman (Fernande), a 1909 bronze that fetched $48.48 million.
