Little Dancer of Fourteen Years
The "Little Dancer" wax sculpture we see today is a reworked version of the original sculpture that was shown in 1881. After seeing the wax sculpture in Degas’ living quarters in April 1903, the New York collector Louisine Havemeyer expressed interest in buying the wax. After proposing a bronze or cast wax of the sculpture, which Mrs. Havemeyer refused, Degas took his wax figure upstairs to his working studio and told Vollard he was reworking the sculpture for Havemeyer for 40,000 francs. Degas never sold the sculpture to Mrs. Havemeyer. After Degas died, it was found in a corner of his studio. Paul Lefond, Degas’ biographer, described the "Little Dancer" wax after Degas’ death as "nothing but a ruin;" and Mary Cassatt telegraphed Mrs. Havemeyer "Statue Bad Condition." However, the wax sculpture we know today is not a ruin. It is Degas' reworked second version of his wax figure. At some point before Degas extensively reworked his sculpture, he allowed a plaster to be cast from the wax figure. This recently re-discovered plaster records the "Little Dancer"’s original pose, bodice, and hairdo. The plaster is now in a private collection in the United States.
Maxime Dethomas
Lautrec featured Dethomas in his art with some frequency. On April 6, 1895, the former "Moulin Rouge" dancer Louise 'La Goulue' Weber commissioned two large canvases to adorn her travelling show's tent. Dethomas appears on the left-hand panel, with his back turned to the viewer. At around the same period, Toulouse-Lautrec declared "I will capture your immobility in places of pleasure", and over the course of one and a half years, he made numerous preparatory sketches of Dethomas intended for a single painting, each taking anywhere from five to fifteen minutes to create. Completed in 1896, the famous portrait of "Maxime Dethomas at the Bal de l'Opera" now hangs in the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.. Another portrait of his friend took the form of a risque lithograph entitled "Debauche Avec Dethomas", and was later used on the cover of an exhibition catalogue of June, 1896. Finally, an 1896 lithograph entitled "Anna Held et Baldy" also features Dethomas, leering provocatively at the famous stage performer. Toulouse-Lautrec gifted a copy of this lithograph to Dethomas, which he retained until his death. During the final years of Toulouse-Lautrec's descent into full-blown alcoholism, Dethomas would rarely leave his side, often escorting him to his Montmartre home at the end of long drinking sessions. Toulouse-Lautrec's final convalescence at Madrid-les-Bains and Bordeaux in the months leading up to his death, prompted Dethomas to make one last journey for his old friend, their friendship lasting until the very end.