Degas Little Dancer Of Fourteen Ballerina Statue by Degas

The Fourteen-year-old Dancer (La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans, 1881). Having worked on the The Dancer for the better part of two years, Degas decided to show his work in the impressionist exhibition in Paris.  He had carefully sculpted the body, had the clothes custom made then worked on it again with wax, so this was to become a solid part of the figure when it was cast in bronze. He expected a sympathetic reaction from the audience, but they were at an utter loss. He was known as a painter and now he had designed something that seemed to laugh at all the traditional values of the art of sculpting, which was something the audience  could not understand. After this experience Degas never exhibited any of his work again. Looking back, he was obviously ahead of his time, his objective realism was not something his contemporaries were ready for. It is a life-like sculpture, with her chin lifted into the air and her immature body, the girl is standing before us, ready to start moving whilst at the same time she seems motionless and timeless.