Date: Fri 17-Jul-1998

Publication: Ant

Author: SHIRLE

Quick Words:

SF-Clark-Institute-Degas

Full Text:

"Degas And The Little Dancer"

(W/3 Cuts)

WILLIAMSTOWN, MASS. -- One of the most celebrated and controversial sculptures

of the modern age will be seen in a fresh and startling light in the exhibit

"Degas and the Little Dancer," which is on view to September 7 at the Sterling

and Francine Clark Art Institute.

The exhibition is the first to trace the evolution of "Little Dancer Aged

Fourteen" by Edgar Degas, starting from early images in paintings and pastels

and continuing to the sculpture itself and on to later works. The exhibition

also repositions the work within the context of Nineteenth Century cultural

and aesthetic concerns, largely through new research into its first public

reception.

After its first showing at the sixth Impressionist exhibition, held in Paris

in 1881, "Little Dancer" became known to millions through 20 or more bronze

casts in collections throughout the world, including that of the Sterling and

Francine Clark Art Institute. The Clark will feature a dramatic new

presentation of its "Little Dancer," now dressed as it was originally and

displayed in a vitrine, in order to approximate as closely as possible the

experience of Degas' earliest audiences. Also on view will be 54 works by

Degas, including chalk and crayon drawings, pastels, oil paintings, prints,

and sculptures, all of which relate historically, thematically, or

stylistically to the sculpture.

When first shown to the public, "Little Dancer Aged Fourteen" was immediately

recognized as an artwork of daring originality. "At one blow," wrote novelist

and critic J.K. Huysmans, "Monsieur Degas has overthrown the traditions of

sculpture." The guest curator of the exhibit, independent art historian

Richard Kendall, reminds viewers that Degas chose to portray neither a great

public figure nor a character from myth, but one of the hard-working student

dancers known as "rats" from the Paris Opera Ballet. In so doing, Degas linked

high art to low life, and provoked as much anxiety as approval from his peers.

Research by modern scholars has shown that the model was Marie van Geothem,

the daughter of working-class parents who lived on the lower slopes of

Montmartre, near Degas' studio. In making the sculpture, the artist idealized

neither Marie's features nor her ungainly posture. Degas' use of materials was

as innovative as his choice of subject. The figure was made in the relatively

impermanent medium of wax and outfitted with startling realism: dressed in a

gauze tutu, ballet shoes, a wig made of real hair, and colored ribbon.

"Such a popular, well-known image, the "Little Dancer" has long held a special

place in the Clark's permanent collection. Yet through this exhibition, we see

this artwork in a whole new light and realize we may not know it as well as we

think," notes Richard Kendall, whose last major exhibition," Degas: Beyond

Impressionism," was presented at the National Gallery in London and the Art

Institute of Chicago in 1996.

An illustrated catalogue published by Yale University Press accompanies the

exhibition. Located at 225 South Street, the institute is open daily 10 am to

5 pm through Labor Day. For information, call 413/458-2303, ext 508.