Marie van Goethem
Marie was born on 14th. February 1864. She was one of three daughters from a tailor and a washer-woman, who came from Belgium. Marie had the wish to become the most famous dancer in the world. She posed for the only wax sculpture that Degas ever presented to the general public. Degas discovered her in the Paris Opera.

With the beginning of his eye-disease, the need started to grow in Degas to tangibly "paint" - to model in wax and thus to express his countless movement and posing studies. As an artist renowned for his works on ballet, dance and movement, he created what was in all probability his first three-dimensional work: the "Fourteen-year-old Dancer".

He prepared for his work by producing numerous sketched and painted studies, before synthesising these and modelling the result in wax.

It was apparently planned right from the beginning to present the finished sculpture to the public. She decorated the catalogue for the Impressionist Exhibition "Salon des Independents" in 1880 in Paris. She was, however, not present in the actual exhibition.

One year later as she appeared in the impressionist exhibition, with bodice, gauze skirt, ballet shoes and real horsehair (which was partly coated with a fine layer of wax), she didn't just draw admiration. Degas' dancer became the focus of the exhibition. Even the critic Paul Mainz couldn't help but give the work a certain amount of respect. Even more important was the verdict of the critic and journalist Joris-Karl Huysmans: The only really modern attempt in the current sculpture.

It was only after the death of the artist that the wax sculpture was cast in bronze, in a very restricted number of copies, by his friend Adrien Hebard. Several of these replicas stand today in important museums throughout the world. The original wax model may be seen in the museum in Washington.

In November 1996, a replica was auctioned by Sotheby's New York for a record price of $10.8 million.