The sculpture of Edgar Degas (1834–1917)

Who was he to me?

I have been aware of, and appreciated, Degas’ work for quite a while. This is why I decided to start adding articles about particular artists. Along the way, in December 2017, I managed to get to the Degas: A Passion for Perfection exhibition, where I saw a bronze of the “little dancer” along with both his work and the work he had collected from other artists. He was primarily a painter with only “little dancer” exhibited as a sculpture during his lifetime.

I found the following interesting:

Upon Degas’s death in 1917, more than 150 figurative sculptures were found in his studio. Most were made of fragile wax, clay, and plastiline (a wax- and oil-based modeling material). …Except for the wax Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer none of these sculptures had been publicly exhibited during the artist’s lifetime. … Although Degas had not favored reproducing his sculptures in more permanent materials, his heirs authorized that copies be cast in bronze in order to preserve the compositions and to sell them as finished works.
from The Met, URL Viewed 03/12/2019

It is likely that it is only because of this decision that many of these works survive in any form today. There seems to be significant analysis and discussion about the lineage of some of the bronzes, some of which is quite interesting. Some of this is included in the External Links.