Edgar Degas
Little Dancer Aged Fourteen
Original 1880/81, cast 1932/36
Petite danseuse de quatorze ans
Bronze, partly painted, cotton tutu, silk ribbon, 98 cm high
Signature stamp and foundry mark on the wooden base
Campbell (2009), p. 556
Sara Campbell, « Appendix 2, Inventory of Serialized Bronze », in Degas in the Norton Simon Museum (Nineteenth Century Art, vol. 2), Pasadena (California), 2009, p. 501-557.
Provenance
1The heirs of the artist AStEGB, Letter from F. K. Lloyd, Marlborough Fine Art Ltd., London, to Emil Bührle, 25 June 1952, regarding his sale of a cast of the Petite danseuse de quatorze ans to the Tate Gallery; Lloyd will try to make the last remaining cast, still with the heirs, available to Bührle; the letter is annotated with a handwritten note by Bührle, indicating that he was not interested, which is confirmed by AStEGB, Letter from Dr. Walter Drack [curator of the Bührle Collection] to F. K. Lloyd, London, 1 July 1952.
2Marlborough Fine Art Ltd. London AStEGB, Invoice from Trafo Anstalt für Handel und Finanz, Vaduz [Marlborough Fine Art Ltd., London], made out to Emil Bührle, 17 June 1954.
3Emil Bührle Zurich • 25 June 1954 until [d.] 28 November 1956 Acquired from the above for FF 6.5 Mio. = CHF 81.250, Invoice as above, n. (1), and AStEGB, Letter from Dr. O. Maurer [Secretary General of Oerlikon Bührle & Co.] to Trafo Anstalt für Handel und Finanz, Vaduz, 19 June 1954, confirming payment of the above amount as part of a larger settlement made for art acquisitions, amounting to a total of CHF 451.250; Letter from Trafo Anstalt für Handel und Finanz, Vaduz, to Emil Bührle, 25 June 1954, acknowledging receipt of this amount; see also Letter from F. K. Lloyd, Marlborough Fine Art Ltd., London, to Emil Bührle, 19 May 1954, accompanying press clipping from The Daily Telegraph, 8 August 1952, reporting the purchase in 1952 of a cast of the Petite danseuse through the Tate Gallery for £ 9.076 (the equivalent of FF 8.8 Mio.) – a reminder that the price to be paid for the present cast may be considered extremely cheap.
4Given by the heirs of Emil Bührle to the Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection Zurich • 1960 Inv. 37
AStEGB = Archive of the Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich
Sara Campbell, « Appendix 2, Inventory of Serialized Bronze », in Degas in the Norton Simon Museum (Nineteenth Century Art, vol. 2), Pasadena (California), 2009, p. 501-557.
Exhibitions
1958Sammlung Emil G. Bührle, Festschrift zu Ehren von Emil G. Bührle zur Eröffnung des Kunsthaus-Neubaus und Katalog der Sammlung Emil G. Bührle Kunsthaus Zurich • 1958 no. 319.
1958Hauptwerke der Sammlung Emil Georg Bührle–Zürich Haus der Kunst • Munich • 1958–59 no. 179.
1994Degas, Die Portraits Kunsthaus Zurich • Kunsthalle Tübingen • 1994–95 Nr. 158.
2002L'impressionismo e l'età di van Gogh Casa dei Carraresi • Treviso • 2002–03 no. 47.
2010Van Gogh, Cézanne, Monet, Die Sammlung Bührle zu Gast im Kunsthaus Zürich Kunsthaus Zurich • 2010 no. 37.
2010Degas Yokohama Museum of Art • Yokohama • 2010 no. 65.
2012Da Vermeer a Kandinsky, Capolavori dai musei del mondo a Rimini Castel Sismondo • Rimini • 2012 pp. 194–195.
2016Von Dürer bis van Gogh, Sammlung Bührle trifft Wallraf Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud • Cologne • 2016–17 no. 56.
2017Chefs-d'oeuvre de la collection Bührle, Manet, Cézanne, Monet, Van Gogh… Fondation de l'Hermitage • Lausanne • 2017 no. 29.
2018Bührle Collection: Impressionist Masterpieces from the E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich (Switzerland) National Art Center, Tokyo • Kyushu National Museum, Fukuoka • Nagoya City Art Museum • 2018 no. 33.
References
1973Leopold Reidemeister etc. Stiftung Sammlung Emil G. Bührle • Fondation Collection Emil G. Bührle • Foundation Emil G. Bührle Collection Zurich & Munich • 1973 • no. 50 (ill.; 21986).
1994Emil Maurer Stiftung Sammlung E.G. Bührle, Zürich Bern • 1994 • p. 42 (English edition: Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich, Bern 1995).
1995Sara Campbell «A Catalogue of Degas' Bronzes» in Apollo (August) • 1995 • p. 47.
1998Sara Campbell «Une danseuse et trente tutus» in 48/14, La revue du Musée d'Orsay (7) • 1998 • pp. 69, 71 (no. 25, ill.).
2002Joseph S. Czestochowski • Anne Pingeot Degas, Sculptures, Catalogue Raisonné of the Bronzes Memphis • 2002 • p. 267 (BUH).
2005Lukas Gloor • Marco Goldin (ed.) Foundation E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich, Catalogue vol. 2 • Conegliano & Zurich • 2005 • no. S25 (ill.; German edition: Stiftung Sammlung E.G. Bührle, Katalog • Italian edition: Fondazione Collezione E.G. Bührle, Catalogo).
2007Werner Hofmann Degas und sein Jahrhundert Munich • 2007 • p. 184, fig. 143.
2009Sara Campbell «Appendix 2, Inventory of Serialized Bronze» in Degas in the Norton Simon Museum (Nineteenth Century Art, vol. 2) • Pasadena (California) • 2009 • p. 556.
2016Lukas Gloor «Das Tutu der Kleinen 14jährigen Tänzerin von Edgar Degas – ein flüchtiges Gewebe» in: Degas – Rodin, Wettlauf der Giganten zur Moderne Gerhard Finckh (ed.), (exh. cat.) Von der Heydt-Museum • Wuppertal • 2016 • p. 306, n. 1.
2021Lukas Gloor «The Holdings of the Emil Bührle Collection: Illustrated List of All 633 Purchases» in The Emil Bührle Collection: History, Full Catalogue and 70 Masterpieces Swiss Institute for Art Research, Zurich (ed.), Munich • 2021 • no. 396 (ill.).