Genius of the Dance

1872

Jean Baptiste Carpeaux French, 1827-1875

On View

Modern, Level 2, North Wing

Genius of the Dance: 1 of Collection Gallery

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About the Artwork

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Exhibition History

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Published References

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Catalogue Raisonné

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Credit Line for Reproduction

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About the Artwork

This personification of the Spirit of Dance leaps exuberantly upward, shaking a tambourine. It is modified from a larger relief sculpture created for the exterior of the celebrated elaborate opera house that opened in Paris in 1869. When it was unveiled, the public was shocked at the figure's wild, unclothed abandon, which violated contemporary standards of decent public behavior.

Title Genius of the Dance

Artwork Date 1872

Artist Jean Baptiste Carpeaux

Life Dates 1827-1875

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. French

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Plaster

Dimensions Mount (base): 25 × 29 × 34 inches (63.5 × 73.7 × 86.4 cm) Overall (object only): 86 5/8 × 35 × 40 inches (220 × 88.9 × 101.6 cm)

Classification Sculpture

Department European Sculpture and Dec Arts

Credit Founders Society Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Allan Shelden III Fund

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 1983.16

Markings

Inscriptions ------

Marks Foundry mark in the form of a metal plaque inserted into the plaster of the group's supporting element, inscribed "Propriete Carpeaux" and with a small eagle cachet.

Provenance

Atelier J. B. Carpeaux

His sale, Galerie Manzi, Joyant, Paris, 30 May 1913, lot1

Baron Robert Gustave de Rothschild, Paris

His son, by descent

Colnaghi and Company, Ltd (dealer), London

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Catalogue De Sculptures Originales Par J. B. Carpeaux. Sales cat., Galerie Manzi, Joyant, Paris, May 30, 1913, p. 2, no. 3 (purchased by Baron de Rothschild).

Wasserman, Jeanne L., ed. Metamorphoses In Nineteenth-Century Sculpture. Exh. cat., Fogg Art Museum. Cambridge, MA, 1975, pp. 132-140.

The Romantics to Rodin. Exh. cat., Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Los Angeles, 1980, p. 153f.

Sur Les Traces De Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux. Exh. cat., Grand Palais. Paris, 1975, pp. 284-329.

Kocks, Dirk. Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux Rezeption Und Originalitat. Sankt Augustin, 1981, pp. 88-103.

Bulletin of the DIA 61, no. 3, (1982/83): 9 (no article, illustration only).

100 Masterworks from the Detroit Institute of Arts. New York, 1985, pp. 152-153 (ill.).

Wagner, A. Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux: Sculptor of the Second Empire. London, 1986, pp. 239, 250-251.

Darr, A. P. "European sculpture and decorative arts acquired by the Detroit Institute of Arts 1978-87." The Burlington Magazine 130 (June 1988): 499, fig. 113 (ill.).

Darr, A. P. "Two newly acquired sculptures by Rude and Rodin in the Detroit Institute of Arts." in La Sculpture en Occident: Etudes offertes à Jean-René Gaborit, eds. G. Bresc-Bautier, F. Baron and P.-Y. Le Pogam. Paris, 2007, p. 273.

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Jean Baptiste Carpeaux, Genius of the Dance, 1872, plaster. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase, Mr. and Mrs. Allan Shelden III Fund, 1983.16.