Edgar Degas captures a candid moment in the life of a dancer

 

Margaret Olley was an important benefactor and tremendous supporter of QAGOMA and this gift — a bronze sculpture of a dancer by Edgar Degas, called Danseuse regardant la plante de son pied droit (Dancer looking at the sole of her right foot) c.1882-1900, cast before 1954 (illustrated) is a lasting legacy to the people of Queensland.

Edgar DegasDancer looking at the sole of her right foot, fourth study c.1882-1900, cast before 1954

Edgar Degas, France 1834-1917 / Danseuse regardant la plante de son pied droit, quatrième étude (Dancer looking at the sole of her right foot, fourth study) c.1882-1900, cast before 1954 / Bronze, dark brown and green patina / 46.2 x 25 x 18cm / Gift of Philip Bacon AM, in memory of Margaret Olley AC through the QAGOMA Foundation 2012. Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

Edgar Degas’s sculptural practice was essentially an experimental and private studio activity. He exhibited only one sculpture during his lifetime. Dancer looking at the sole of her right foot is one of an edition of bronzes cast after the artist’s death in 1917. It typically captures a candid moment in the life of a dancer — a subject that Degas explored exhaustively through paintings, drawings and prints. It is widely agreed that for Degas, the making of sculpture was more akin to sketching and drawing — a means to realise or study in detail particular poses, masses, forms and volumes.

Following Degas’s death in 1917, his dealer Paul Durand-Ruel — also an executor of his estate — and the art dealer Ambroise Vollard, discovered more than 150 of the artist’s wax and terracotta sculptures. Only 73 of these were rescued intact, plus a handful of terracotta figurines and plasters. In consultation with Adrien-Aurélin Hébrard, owner of a respected Parisian foundry, Degas’s heirs granted Hébrard the rights to cast a limited edition of the 74 waxes in bronze. Work began in 1919 and continued until 1936 when the Hébrard Foundry ceased operations.

Three views of Dancer looking at the sole of her right foot, fourth study

The bronze bears the foundry stamp of A A HEBRARD with the assignation of 40/T. Each of the sculptures was assigned a number and a letter denoting the series of casts. Each series was originally intended to be cast in editions of 20, although this number seems to vary in some cases. The first-generation casts made by the Hébrard foundry were made from wax models of Degas’s original mixed media sculptures. It is widely agreed that Degas never had any of his sculptures cast in bronze during his lifetime and therefore it must be acknowledged that the posthumously produced editions with stamped signatures are reproduction casts. However, the stamp on this sculpture suggests it was one of the original lost wax editions, and therefore is likely to be dated pre-1936.

In 1990 Margaret Olley established the Margaret Olley Art Trust to donate works of art to public collections throughout Australia. Olley was an important benefactor and tremendous supporter of QAGOMA, and this gift of Philip Bacon AM in memory of Margaret Olley AC through the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Foundation 2012 is a testament to this.

David Burnett is former Curator, International Art, QAGOMA

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