{"id":1510,"date":"2026-06-04T21:55:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T19:55:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/horscadre.paris\/the-fourteen-year-old-little-dancer-the-ultimate-scandal-in-modern-sculpture\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T22:43:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T20:43:43","slug":"the-fourteen-year-old-little-dancer-the-ultimate-scandal-in-modern-sculpture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/horscadre.paris\/en\/the-fourteen-year-old-little-dancer-the-ultimate-scandal-in-modern-sculpture\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fourteen-Year-Old Little Dancer \u2014 The Ultimate Scandal in Modern Sculpture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Paris, early April 1881, 35 Boulevard des Capucines.<\/strong> The 6th Impressionist Exhibition<\/strong> opens its doors inthe former studio of the photographer Nadar<\/strong>. Edgar Degas, who was supposed to present a pigmented wax sculpture<\/strong> there, did not deliver his work on time<\/strong>. The glass display case<\/strong> intended to hold it remained empty<\/strong> for two weeks<\/strong>. Visitors wondered what had happened. Critics grew impatient. The title appeared in the catalog\u2014 \u201cLittle Dancer Aged Fourteen\u201d<\/em> \u2014but the work itself was nowhere to be found. <\/p>\n\n

Late April 1881.<\/strong> Degas finally delivered his sculpture. Ninety-eight centimeters tall<\/strong>. Pigmented wax in natural colors<\/strong>. Authentic cotton tulle tutu<\/strong>. Fabric bodice<\/strong>. Satin ballet slippers<\/strong>. A wig made of human hair<\/strong>, tied with a satin ribbon<\/strong>. The figurine depicts a young ballerina<\/strong>, standing in the classical fourth position<\/strong>, hands clasped behind her back<\/strong>, torso leaning slightly backward<\/strong>, head tilted upward<\/strong>, gaze directed toward a distant point<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

The public outcry was immediate.<\/strong> Critics spoke of \u201cthe epitome of precocious depravity<\/strong>, \u201d<\/strong> a \u201cface marked by the loathsome promise of every vice<\/strong>, \u201d<\/strong> and comparisons \u201cto a monkey\u201d<\/strong> or \u201cto an Aztec.\u201d<\/strong> An anonymous critic exclaimed , \u201cWhat an ugly creature she is!\u201d<\/strong> Another saw the statuette as \u201ca specimen of natural history\u201d<\/strong> rather than a work of art. Only Joris-Karl Huysmans<\/strong>, the future naturalist writer, publicly defended<\/strong> the sculpture, seeing it as \u201cthe only truly modern attempt\u201d<\/em> in the exhibition. <\/p>\n\n

The scandal was so great<\/strong> that Degas, deeply hurt<\/strong>, removed the statuette at the end of the exhibition and never displayed it again<\/strong>. For thirty-six years<\/strong>, it remained in his studio, hidden from the public<\/strong>. It was the only sculpture Edgar Degas ever exhibited during his lifetime<\/strong>. Upon his death in 1917<\/strong>, one hundred and fifty other models<\/strong> were discovered in his studio\u2014secret sculptures that no one had ever seen. <\/p>\n\n

This article recounts the genesis of this seminal work in modern Western sculpture, the tragic fate of Marie van Goethem<\/strong>\u2014a fourteen-year-old Belgian girl who posed for Degas and whose real life was turned upside down shortly after the sculpture was created\u2014 the absolute formal break<\/strong> represented by the use of mixed media (wax, real fabrics, and human hair) in European artistic sculpture, the posthumous legacy<\/strong> of the H\u00e9brard bronzes beginning in 1919, andthe conceptual foreshadowing<\/strong> of kinetic sculpture that Degas achieved here\u2014thirty years before Alexander Calder, without realizing it.<\/p>\n\n

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Marie van Goethem \u2014 the Belgian girl in the 9th arrondissement<\/h2>\n\n

The identity of the sculpture’s model<\/strong> has been accurately documented by recent historical research\u2014notably the study by writer Camille Laurens<\/strong>, published in 2017 under the title *La Petite Danseuse de quatorze ans*<\/em> (\u00c9ditions Stock).<\/p>\n\n

Marie Genevi\u00e8ve van Goethem<\/strong> was born on June 7, 1865, in Paris<\/strong>, to a family of Belgian immigrants<\/strong> living in the 9th arrondissement<\/strong>. Her father, Antoine van Goethem<\/strong>, was a tailor<\/strong>. Her mother, Catherine Marie Jos\u00e9phine Mertens<\/strong>, was a laundress<\/strong>. The family lived in relative poverty<\/strong>, typical of Belgian immigrants<\/strong> who settled in Paris in the 1860s and 1870s\u2014a large community that had fled the rural and industrial poverty of Flanders<\/strong> at that time. <\/p>\n\n

Marie is the second<\/strong> of the three van Goethem sisters<\/strong>. The eldest is Antoinette<\/strong> (born in 1861), and the youngest is Louise-Jos\u00e9phine<\/strong> (born in 1870). The three sisters lived on Rue de Douai, near Pigalle. Their father died<\/strong> when Marie was about ten years old, around 1875. Their widowed<\/strong> mother, a laundress, had to support her three daughters on her own. <\/p>\n\n

The typical social solution<\/strong> of the time for working-class families in Paris<\/strong> was to enroll their daughters inthe Paris Opera\u2019s dance school<\/strong>. This school, established by imperial decree under Napoleon I, recruited exclusively<\/strong> from working-class backgrounds<\/strong>. It offered children free technical training<\/strong>, a student stipend<\/strong> (a few francs a week), and the promise<\/strong> of a career in the corps de ballet<\/strong>. For poor families<\/strong>, it meant one less mouth<\/strong> to feed and an immediate source of income<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

Around 1875\u20131878<\/strong>, Catherine Marie Jos\u00e9phine Mertens enrolled her three daughters<\/strong> in the Opera\u2019s dance school. Antoinette<\/strong> and Louise<\/strong> remained there\u2014Antoinette became a prostitute<\/strong> in the 1880s (according to police records), while Louise-Jos\u00e9phine became a dance teacher<\/strong> in the early 20th century.<\/p>\n\n

Marie van Goethem entered the Paris Opera School in 1878<\/strong>, at the age of thirteen<\/strong>. In accordance with the rules<\/strong> for \u201cpetits rats\u201d at the time, she received daily training<\/strong> under the guidance of ballet masters<\/strong> and class instructors<\/strong>. The discipline was rigorous: technical classes<\/strong> in the morning, rehearsals<\/strong> in the afternoon, and, for the most advanced students, appearing as extras<\/strong> in public performances in the evening. <\/p>\n\n

It was in that same year, 1878<\/strong>, that Marie began posing<\/strong> for Edgar Degas in his studio on Rue Pigalle<\/strong>. According to surviving records, she earned five to six francs<\/strong> for a four-hour modeling session<\/strong> \u2014a significant<\/strong> sum for a family of modest means, which supplemented her salary as a student at the Opera. <\/p>\n\n

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1875\u20131880 \u2014 five years of sculpting<\/h2>\n\n

According to various institutional sources (Wikipedia, Encyclop\u00e9die Universalis, Histoires-de-Paris, Panorama de l’art), Edgar Degas began modeling<\/strong> his sculpture around 1875\u20131879<\/strong> and completed it around 1880<\/strong>. The exact date when<\/strong> work began<\/strong> is a matter of debate\u2014some sources place the earliest modeling as early as 1875, while others cite 1879. The consensus<\/strong> is that the final version<\/strong> was completed in 1880<\/strong>, in preparation forthe exhibition scheduled for 1881<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

What is certain is that the creative process was a long one<\/strong> \u2014at least two years<\/strong>, probably more than five<\/strong>. Degas produced several preparatory drawings<\/strong> (now in the collection of the Mus\u00e9e d\u2019Orsay), explored different poses<\/strong>, studied the<\/strong> young dancer\u2019s anatomy<\/strong>, and observed her movements<\/strong> at the Op\u00e9ra school and in his studio. <\/p>\n\n

The technique<\/strong> used was unusual for serious sculpture<\/strong> of the time. Degas modeled his work in pigmented wax mixed with tallow<\/strong> (animal fat that makes the wax more pliable and malleable). For the internal structure<\/strong>, he used a wire-and-wood framework<\/strong> \u2014a technical skeleton that supported the weight of the wax. These materials are ephemeral<\/strong> and fragile<\/strong>. The wax warps<\/strong> in the heat, cracks<\/strong> in the cold, and tarnishes<\/strong> in the light. No serious sculptor of the time used such materials for a work intended for public display<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

Degas took this material transgression<\/strong> even further. He dressed<\/strong> his sculpture in real fabrics<\/strong>: a fabric bodice<\/strong>, a tutu skirt<\/strong> made of gauze (cotton or silk tulle), and real satin ballet slippers<\/strong>. He tops<\/strong> the figurine\u2019s head with a wig made of human hair<\/strong> (probably purchased from a doll shop<\/strong>, according to several sources). He ties the wig with a green or pink satin ribbon<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n

No sculpture exhibited in a serious artistic context<\/strong> in the 19th century had, until then, used such real props<\/strong>. The only figures dressed in real fabrics existed in: <\/p>\n\n