Latest news with #EdgarDegas
Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
What happened to the real Little Dancer who inspired Degas
You know her. She's one of the most famous sculptures in the world. And the only one that the French artist Edgar Degas ever exhibited in public. Although the Little Dancer Aged Fourteen was denounced at the sixth impressionist exhibition of 1881 — too ugly, the critics said — she is now recognised as a groundbreaking work of modernist art. But what about the little dancer herself? Unlike the sculpture she inspired, Marie van Goethem has been lost to history. A student at the Paris Opera Ballet School, she came from a poor background. Her Belgian father was a tailor and her mother a laundress who was soon left widowed with three daughters to support. Marie earned a bit of money posing for Degas — she was one of his favourite models. But not long after that controversial exhibition, Marie, who by then was in her late teens, was fired by the Paris Opera for missing classes and being late for rehearsals. What happened to her next, no one knows. It's a mystery that has long fascinated the Broadway director and choreographer Susan Stroman. And it's why she has spent more than a decade nurturing a new musical about the life of Van Goethem. Little Dancer, with music by Stephen Flaherty and book and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens (the team behind Ragtime), is coming to London for a single concert performance on July 27. And if Stroman has her way, at some point a full West End staging will follow. 'The story of our musical doesn't end with Marie's dismissal,' Stroman says. 'Degas chose to sculpt her rather than a beautiful ballerina because she had grit and real life in her. We see her as a bit of an artful dodger who had street smarts and talked back to him. So we wanted to believe that Marie survived. In the show we have her as an older, wiser woman who has worked, although we don't say what work she did as that didn't seem right. But she comes back to see the sculpture that changed her life. She wanted to become a famous dancer and because of it she became the most famous dancer of all.' After the artist's death, about two dozen bronze replicas of The Little Dancer were made — now scattered throughout museums around the world — but the original sculpture, a mixed-media artwork made of beeswax and adorned with cotton tutu, linen ballet slippers and a wig of human hair, is on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, where Stroman's show had its premiere at the Kennedy Center in 2014. It was revived for a successful run in Seattle five years later, and was headed for New York when the pandemic struck. 'Theatres were closed for almost two years in New York and when they reopened we had other commitments,' the director says. The offer of a concert staging at Theatre Royal Drury Lane came as a lifeline. I find Stroman in a south London dance studio, rehearsing her large cast. She may be 70, but she looks so fit and energetic that she could be one of her own dancers. This is the woman who directed and choreographed The Music Man, The Producers and Young Frankenstein on Broadway, directed and choreographed a sensational staging of Crazy for You in the West End two years ago and has won five Tony awards and two Oliviers. I especially admired her innovative productions of The Scottsboro Boys and Contact, both of which had successful runs in London and New York, and her engaging full-length ballet Double Feature for New York City Ballet. Stroman sees a growing disconnect between London and New York theatre. 'Since the pandemic everything in New York is three times the cost and it's now very difficult to mount a show there. This year 14 musicals opened on Broadway and nine have closed already. One would say Broadway is broken. But here in London one can still feel creative and be nurtured in crafting a new piece. You don't have over your heads the terrible economics of New York City.' Her production of New York, New York, inspired by Martin Scorsese's 1977 film, became a victim of the new reality on Broadway when it closed in 2023 after just a few months. This year her staging of Smash, based on the American TV series set on Broadway, followed suit. 'Just because it's a financial flop doesn't mean it's an artistic flop,' Stroman says. 'Smash got the best New York Times review of all the musicals that opened this year, but the producers looked forward into September and could see no ticket sales. I can understand how that panics them. • The best shows in London and the UK to book now 'Another thing that's changed since the pandemic, along with the costs, is that people don't necessarily book that far ahead any more,' she says. 'It makes everyone nervous and really hurts the theatre. These days the shows that run are Wicked, The Lion King, Aladdin and Hamilton, of course. But for anything coming up now I think big Broadway musicals might be over.' So is it time, as the British producer Sonia Friedman says, for theatre to think smaller? 'We are being forced to make it smaller,' Stroman says, 'but I don't think that's bad. In fact anything I'm doing in the future is quite small. That seems to be the way to go.' That's certainly the mantra for Little Dancer, which has been substantially cut back for the one-off London performance. 'The original production was two hours and 20 minutes, but for the concert version it's down to one hour and 40 minutes. Yet having done that I now feel the show should be done in one act.' There will be no sets — it's a concert after all, with the orchestra on stage — but the audience will be getting all of Stroman's vibrant classical choreography. Unusually for a musical, the ensemble, who have all been recruited locally, have to sing and act while also dancing on pointe. The cast is led by the extraordinary American ballerina Tiler Peck, a star of New York City Ballet, as Young Marie, with Laura Pitt-Pulford as Adult Marie and Julian Ovenden as Degas. 'Little Dancer is about the life of a dancer and how difficult it is to be an artist,' Stroman says. 'But it's also about choices, which Marie didn't have. Poor women in her day could be prostitutes, they could be laundresses or ballerinas.' Indeed, Marie's elder sister became a prostitute, although her younger sibling did go on to become a dancer and well-respected teacher at the Paris Opera Ballet. • Read more theatre reviews, guides and interviews Even so, life in the ballet carried its own risks for impoverished young female dancers, who could be sexually exploited by the abonnés, wealthy male patrons who paid money for the privilege of their company. 'Degas painted these men in their black top hats peering in from the side of the frames of his dance canvases, almost as a warning,' Stroman says. And what did happen to that infamous sculpture of 1881? Its detractors said it had the face of a monkey and complained that Marie's pose, standing in ballet's fourth position with chin thrust forward and arms awkwardly behind her back, wasn't chocolate-box pretty. 'Degas was really heading into modernism with the Little Dancer and it made the critics crazy,' Stroman says. 'So he took it out of the exhibition and put it in his closet. It didn't come out until 40 years later, until after he died. And now it's hailed as one of the world's great sculptures.' Little Dancer is at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London, Jul 27;
Observer
05-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Observer
Art is not what you see, but what you make others see
What is art, truly? Is it the brush on canvas, the chisel on stone, the rhythm of music, or the silence between words? Or is it something far more intimate, an invisible thread between the creator and the beholder, where feelings, meanings and ideas are transferred without needing to be explained? Edgar Degas once said, 'Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.' It is a statement that haunts the soul of every creator and invites each viewer to step beyond mere observation into an act of connection. To see is easy. To make someone else see, not just with their eyes but with their emotions, memories and inner world, is a rare kind of magic. When Vincent van Gogh painted The Starry Night, he did not replicate the sky as it appeared. He transmitted the turbulence of his soul, the storm of mental illness clashing with a longing for peace. The viewer doesn't just see stars; they feel isolation, longing and the fragile beauty of existence. This is where the process of art begins, not with paint, nor stone, nor words, but in the mind. Before Michelangelo lifted a chisel, he claimed he saw the figure trapped inside the marble. He simply removed the excess. Such vision is not merely technical; it is cerebral, imaginative and deeply spiritual. The brain of the artist works differently, it fuses logic and intuition, detail and abstraction, thought and instinct. Leonardo da Vinci didn't just create Mona Lisa; he gave us a mystery that has endured centuries, a smile that seduces every imagination that meets it. Art is the language of the unseen. It's how Frida Kahlo expressed pain that could not be verbalised, how Picasso made sense of a fractured world, how Claude Monet captured time not as a ticking clock but as light gently dancing on water. It is how we learn to see again, not with our pupils, but with our hearts. The imagination is not just a luxury for artists; it is the birthplace of empathy. When Gabriel García Márquez wrote about magical villages and eternal rain, he wasn't escaping reality, he was decoding it, translating human truths into metaphors that pierced the soul. Similarly, Yayoi Kusama, through her infinity rooms, does not simply present art, she pulls us inside her mind, where obsession, pattern and eternity collapse into one. But making others see is not about control. The artist doesn't dictate interpretation; rather, they open a door. Each viewer brings their own history to the moment. A painting may whisper freedom to one and melancholy to another. In that space of ambiguity lies the true power of art: its capacity to multiply meaning, to ignite different truths in different hearts. When Banksy paints a girl letting go of a red balloon on a crumbling wall, he's not just decorating public space. He's telling a story, of innocence, of loss, of rebellion. Art like his cuts through noise because it speaks in silence, in irony, in metaphor. The same is true of Jean-Michel Basquiat, whose seemingly chaotic canvases are explosive conversations about race, capitalism and identity. They don't demand answers; they demand introspection. Art is a form of communication older than language. Long before words, humans painted on cave walls trying to say, I was here. I felt this. I mattered. Today, whether through digital installations, photography, music, or performance, artists continue the same mission: not just to be seen, but to be felt. To make others see what you see is not to replicate your vision, but to inspire theirs. The artist's mission is not to persuade but to awaken. Sometimes, they succeed in creating a single moment of revelation where time pauses, breath catches and a person says, 'Now I understand. Now I feel.' That moment is sacred. Art is not a product; it is an experience. It is the invisible hand reaching from one soul to another. A mirror that reflects, a window that reveals, a dream that transcends. It is a whisper across time that says: Look again. Feel again. Be more human. Art is not what you see, it is what you make others see. And in that shared vision, we find the essence of humanity itself.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Audain Art Museum to Exhibit Rare Drawings from the National Gallery of Canada's Vault
WHISTLER, BC, May 27, 2025 /CNW/ - This summer, the Audain Art Museum (AAM) is proud to present Gathered Leaves: Discoveries from the Drawings Vault, a landmark travelling exhibition offering a rare glimpse into the hidden art treasures of the National Gallery of Canada (NGC). On view from June 14 through October 13, 2025, the exhibition features over 130 works on paper and canvas by 84 artists, revealing centuries of artistic innovation and storytelling to AAM visitors. Featuring graphite sketches alongside delicate ink, pastel, and watercolour renderings, Gathered Leaves offers a wide range of techniques and styles by internationally celebrated artists. The exhibition highlights renowned figures such as Edgar Degas, Pablo Picasso, Gustav Klimt, Edvard Munch, Marc Chagall, and Wassily Kandinsky, as well as powerful contributions by historically underrepresented women artists, including Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun and Elisabetta Sirani. "This exhibition is a unique opportunity for audiences to connect with the immediacy and intimacy of drawings by many of Europe's most celebrated artists—many of which have been hidden from public view for decades," says Dr. Curtis Collins, Director & Chief Curator of the Audain Art Museum. "We are proud to collaborate with the National Gallery of Canada in presenting these extraordinary pieces to Whistler residents, as well as visitors from across Canada and around the world." "A collection more than a century in the making. Many exciting discoveries await visitors to the exhibition. Gathered Leaves is the Canadian debut of international historical drawings recently acquired by the National Gallery of Canada, alongside lesser known but significant works straight from the vault. This exhibition and its accompanying award-winning catalogue celebrate the centennial anniversary of our Department of Prints and Drawings, established in 1921 – the first curatorial division created at the NGC," says Jean-François Bélisle, Director and CEO, National Gallery of Canada. "In light of our national mandate to make art accessible to all Canadians, we're delighted that visitors to the Audain Art Museum will also have the rare opportunity to view remarkable drawings that for conservation reasons are usually kept in the dark." The NGC collection has grown to include an extraordinary range of national and international works spanning the 15th to 20th centuries, including master drawings from Italy, France, Germany and Spain dating to the 1600s. From preparatory studies to vivid pastel compositions, Gathered Leaves offers a compelling look at the diverse roles drawing has played across time, geography, and artistic movements. Gathered Leaves celebrates the national institution's century-long commitment to collecting and preserving works on paper. The exhibition also includes the NGC's recent acquisitions, expanding the narrative and offering fresh perspectives on art history. Accompanying the exhibition is a beautifully illustrated publication, Discoveries from the Drawings Vault. Authored by Sonia Del Re with Kirsten Appleyard, with contributions by Erika Dolphin, the catalogue commemorates the 100th anniversary of the NGC's Department of Prints and Drawings and highlights new research and curatorial insights into this significant collection. Gathered Leaves: Discoveries from the Drawings Vault is organized by the National Gallery of Canada. This exhibition is supported by Government Partner, The Resort Municipality of Whistler, and Hotel Partner, Fairmont Chateau Whistler. The accompanying catalogue is made possible with support from Getty though its Paper Project Initiative. About the Audain Art Museum Established in 2016, the Museum was founded via a major philanthropic gift of Michael Audain and Yoshiko Karasawa. The Permanent Collection is focused on the art of British Columbia, exemplifying the richness of cultural difference in Canada. Highlights include hereditary Haida Chief James Hart's The Dance Screen, an exceptional collection of historical and contemporary Indigenous art, a comprehensive selection of paintings by Emily Carr and a brilliant range of works by Vancouver's photo-conceptualists. The Museum hosts numerous special exhibitions per year that feature artists and collections of national as well as international significance. About the National Gallery of Canada Founded in 1880, the National Gallery of Canada is among the world's most respected art institutions. As a national museum, we exist to serve all Canadians, no matter where they live. We do this by sharing our collection, exhibitions and public programming widely. We create dynamic experiences that allow for new ways of seeing ourselves and each other through the visual arts, while centering Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Our mandate is to develop, preserve and present a collection for the learning and enjoyment of all – now and for generations to come. We are home to more than 90,000 works, including one of the finest collections of Indigenous and Canadian art, major works from the 14th to the 21st century and extensive library and archival holdings. Ankosé – Everything is connected – Tout est relié SOURCE Audain Art Museum View original content to download multimedia: Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Cision Canada
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Cision Canada
Audain Art Museum to Exhibit Rare Drawings from the National Gallery of Canada's Vault
WHISTLER, BC, May 27, 2025 /CNW/ - This summer, the Audain Art Museum (AAM) is proud to present Gathered Leaves: Discoveries from the Drawings Vault, a landmark travelling exhibition offering a rare glimpse into the hidden art treasures of the National Gallery of Canada (NGC). On view from June 14 through October 13, 2025, the exhibition features over 130 works on paper and canvas by 84 artists, revealing centuries of artistic innovation and storytelling to AAM visitors. Featuring graphite sketches alongside delicate ink, pastel, and watercolour renderings, Gathered Leaves offers a wide range of techniques and styles by internationally celebrated artists. The exhibition highlights renowned figures such as Edgar Degas, Pablo Picasso, Gustav Klimt, Edvard Munch, Marc Chagall, and Wassily Kandinsky, as well as powerful contributions by historically underrepresented women artists, including Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun and Elisabetta Sirani. "This exhibition is a unique opportunity for audiences to connect with the immediacy and intimacy of drawings by many of Europe's most celebrated artists—many of which have been hidden from public view for decades," says Dr. Curtis Collins, Director & Chief Curator of the Audain Art Museum. "We are proud to collaborate with the National Gallery of Canada in presenting these extraordinary pieces to Whistler residents, as well as visitors from across Canada and around the world." "A collection more than a century in the making. Many exciting discoveries await visitors to the exhibition. Gathered Leaves is the Canadian debut of international historical drawings recently acquired by the National Gallery of Canada, alongside lesser known but significant works straight from the vault. This exhibition and its accompanying award-winning catalogue celebrate the centennial anniversary of our Department of Prints and Drawings, established in 1921 – the first curatorial division created at the NGC," says Jean-François Bélisle, Director and CEO, National Gallery of Canada. "In light of our national mandate to make art accessible to all Canadians, we're delighted that visitors to the Audain Art Museum will also have the rare opportunity to view remarkable drawings that for conservation reasons are usually kept in the dark." The NGC collection has grown to include an extraordinary range of national and international works spanning the 15th to 20th centuries, including master drawings from Italy, France, Germany and Spain dating to the 1600s. From preparatory studies to vivid pastel compositions, Gathered Leaves offers a compelling look at the diverse roles drawing has played across time, geography, and artistic movements. Gathered Leaves celebrates the national institution's century-long commitment to collecting and preserving works on paper. The exhibition also includes the NGC's recent acquisitions, expanding the narrative and offering fresh perspectives on art history. Accompanying the exhibition is a beautifully illustrated publication, Discoveries from the Drawings Vault. Authored by Sonia Del Re with Kirsten Appleyard, with contributions by Erika Dolphin, the catalogue commemorates the 100th anniversary of the NGC's Department of Prints and Drawings and highlights new research and curatorial insights into this significant collection. Gathered Leaves: Discoveries from the Drawings Vault is organized by the National Gallery of Canada. This exhibition is supported by Government Partner, The Resort Municipality of Whistler, and Hotel Partner, Fairmont Chateau Whistler. The accompanying catalogue is made possible with support from Getty though its Paper Project Initiative. About the Audain Art Museum Established in 2016, the Museum was founded via a major philanthropic gift of Michael Audain and Yoshiko Karasawa. The Permanent Collection is focused on the art of British Columbia, exemplifying the richness of cultural difference in Canada. Highlights include hereditary Haida Chief James Hart's The Dance Screen, an exceptional collection of historical and contemporary Indigenous art, a comprehensive selection of paintings by Emily Carr and a brilliant range of works by Vancouver's photo-conceptualists. The Museum hosts numerous special exhibitions per year that feature artists and collections of national as well as international significance. About the National Gallery of Canada Founded in 1880, the National Gallery of Canada is among the world's most respected art institutions. As a national museum, we exist to serve all Canadians, no matter where they live. We do this by sharing our collection, exhibitions and public programming widely. We create dynamic experiences that allow for new ways of seeing ourselves and each other through the visual arts, while centering Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Our mandate is to develop, preserve and present a collection for the learning and enjoyment of all – now and for generations to come. We are home to more than 90,000 works, including one of the finest collections of Indigenous and Canadian art, major works from the 14th to the 21st century and extensive library and archival holdings.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Yahoo
A Climate Activist Who Targeted a Degas Sculpture at the National Gallery of Art Is Found Guilty
A climate activist who smeared paint on the glass protecting an Edgar Degas sculpture in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., has been found guilty by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit an offense against the United States. The U.S. Department of Justice announced today that Timothy Martin, 55, of Raleigh, N.C., was also found guilty of injury to a National Gallery of Art exhibit, concerning the April 2023 incident in which he and a fellow activist, with the environmentalist group Declare Emergency, targeted the case and base of Edgar Degas's Little Dancer, Age Fourteen, one of the most famous sculptures in the Western art canon and a major tourist draw for the institution. More from Robb Report A 3,800-Year-Old Egyptian Amulet Was Just Found by a Toddler Near Jerusalem The Site Where Van Gogh Made His Final Painting Will Remain Private Property, a Court Rules Inside Robb Report's April 2025 Design & Innovation Issue Per the DOJ, Martin and his companion, Johanna Smith, caused more than $4,000 in damage, and forced the exhibit to close from public view for 10 days of repairs. Smith pleaded guilty in December 2023 to one count of causing injury to the gallery's exhibit and was sentenced to 60 days in prison, followed by 24 months of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $3,000 fine and $4,062 in restitution. Since taking office, President Trump has escalated consequences for activism that involves bringing awareness to the climate crisis via targeting artworks. A March 2025 directive, titled Executive Order to Make D.C. Safe and Beautiful, issued broad directives to rectify what the Trump administration has deemed issues of crime and aesthetics in the U.S. capital, including the restoration of monuments, removing graffiti from public spaces, and the creation of the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, nominally charged with coordinating 'law enforcement efforts.' Best of Robb Report The 10 Priciest Neighborhoods in America (And How They Got to Be That Way) In Pictures: Most Expensive Properties Click here to read the full article.
