Lot Essay
Although Edgar Degas only exhibited one sculpture during his lifetime, the medium was an important part of his creative output and he modelled statuettes in wax throughout his career. Degas molded sculptures in various poses which he would later utilize as models for his pastels, drawings and paintings. This practice enabled him to explore movement in ways that were not possible on paper. The present work is a bronze casting of one of the three original plaster casts which were executed during the artist's lifetime. In 1931, the critic Germain Bazin asserted that "Degas' statue (La danse espagnole) . . . has neither front, nor profile; it is alive in all directions and from whatever angle one perceives it, it remains an active configuration" (G. Bazin, "Degas sculpteur," L'Amour de l'art, July 1931, p. 301).
Richard Kendall notes that, "Degas cast the three images that clearly represented the most persistent themes in his work: the dance, the female nude, and the female nude dancer" (R. Kendall, op. cit., p. 35). Degas repeated this pose again in La danse espagnole (Rewald, no. LXVI).
Richard Kendall notes that, "Degas cast the three images that clearly represented the most persistent themes in his work: the dance, the female nude, and the female nude dancer" (R. Kendall, op. cit., p. 35). Degas repeated this pose again in La danse espagnole (Rewald, no. LXVI).