In creating one of his most famous sculptures, Little Dancer of Fourteen Years, Edgar Degas used Marie Geneviève van Goethem as his model. Marie was a ballet student studying at the Paris Opera Ballet—but her life was no fairy tale.
A Hard Life
Born in 1865, Marie grew up in poverty alongside her two sisters. Her mother worked hard as a laundress—but her meager income meant that they moved frequently, often living in the most poverty-stricken areas of the city. But there were even darker times ahead.
Brutal Criticism
Though Marie and her sisters began dancing at the Paris Opera Ballet, sordid interactions transpired behind the curtains. Male guests often ventured backstage to feast their eyes on the young girls. Many of the dancers were expected to be intimate with patrons—and Marie was no exception.
Not long after joining the Paris Opera Ballet, Marie posed for Degas for numerous works—but his piece Little Dancer of Fourteen Years truly shocked most viewers. Critics were ruthless. They called the sculpture a “flower of precocious depravity” and described her as “bearing the signs of profoundly heinous character.” They even compared her features to a monkey. But that wasn’t the saddest part.
Lost To History
Only a year after the sculpture debuted at the Sixth Impressionist Exhibition of 1881, Marie’s life fell apart. She missed too many classes and the school dismissed her, ultimately destroying her dance career. Unfortunately, from this time onward, the rest of Marie’s life remains a mystery.
There are no historical records to illuminate the rest of her story. However, Marie will be forever frozen in time thanks to Little Dancer of Fourteen Years, which eventually received the acclaim and love it deserves.
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