Degas Little Dancer of Fourteen Years Statue – Medium Ballerina with Fabric Skirt (DE05)

Degas Ballerina – Marie Van Goethem, His Model

The Degas Little Dancer statue  (Fourteen-year-old Dancer, La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans, 1879–1881) is Edgar Degas’ most famous and controversial sculpture. The model was a young Paris Opera Ballet student named Marie van Goethem. Degas showed her with realism rather than glamour. She stands upright, chin slightly raised, as if awaiting instruction instead of applause.

This medium-size Degas Little Dancer statue captures that same quiet tension. It also preserves the detail that made the original so surprising. The dancer wears a real fabric skirt and a ribbon bow in her hair. Degas used mixed materials to bring sculpture closer to life.

About Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas (1834–1917) occupied a unique position within Impressionism. He rejected painting outdoors and relied heavily on drawing, memory, and photography. While closely associated with Monet, Renoir, and the Impressionist circle, Degas referred to himself as an “independent realist.”

His ballet dancers remain among the most recognizable images in Western art. They reveal the discipline, repetition, and physical strain behind the beauty of performance. The Little Dancer of Fourteen Years stands as his most radical and enduring sculptural statement.

Product Details

• Artwork: Little Dancer of Fourteen Years sculpture (1879–1881), Edgar Degas
• Collection: Parastone Museum Collection
• Part Number: DE05
• Materials: Resin with hand-painted details, fabric skirt and bow
• Finish: Matte and glossy painted accents
• Included: Color card describing the artwork (four languages)
• Size: 8.5 in H × 3.25 in W × 3.25 in D
• Weight: 0.9 lbs

About the Original Artwork

After beginning to lose his eyesight after his fiftieth birthday, Degas became increasingly dependent on touch. Sculpture became a serious part of his practice. Although he rarely showed his work during this period, he worked on the dancer for more than two years. He then sent it to the Impressionist exhibition in Paris.

After carefully sculpting the body, Degas had the clothing custom made. The bodice, net skirt, and ballet shoes were real elements. Degas then reworked parts of the bodice in wax. He wanted costume and body to feel inseparable when cast.

Unlike traditional academic sculpture of the time, Degas presented a modern, uncompromising vision of a working dancer. This dancer replica preserves the most controversial and innovative aspect of the original: a real fabric netting skirt and hair bow, rather than sculpted clothing. This choice shocked 19th-century audiences and permanently altered the boundaries between sculpture and reality.

“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”
— Edgar Degas

The public reaction was intense. A critic famously wrote, “Mister Degas dreamed of an ideal picture of ugliness. The fortunate man! He has achieved it …” Viewers expected ideal beauty. Degas offered something closer to life. He broke the rules of polite sculpture.

After this experience, Degas never exhibited sculpture publicly again. Looking back, he was clearly ahead of his time. He developed an objective realism that later generations would recognize as profoundly modern.

Why This Sculpture Still Matters

This Degas Little Dancer statue does not show performance. It shows preparation. The dancer’s posture reflects discipline, repetition, and physical strain. Degas revealed the working reality behind the elegance of ballet.

Unlike idealized classical figures, this Degas Little Dancer statue feels human and present. She appears ready to move, yet completely still. That balance between motion and restraint is what gives the sculpture its lasting power.

Video: Degas and the Little Dancer

Compare Other Sizes of the Degas Little Dancer statue

Many collectors choose more than one size for a Degas display. Here are other Little Dancer options we carry:

• Large Little Dancer with Netting Skirt (13.5")
• Miniature Little Dancer Statue
• Little Dancer Ornament

For more Degas museum replicas, visit the Edgar Degas collection .