Edgar Degas
Degas's work was controversial, but was generally admired for its draftsmanship. His "La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans", or "Little Dancer of Fourteen Years", which he displayed at the sixth Impressionist exhibition in 1881, was probably his most controversial piece; some critics decried what they thought its "appalling ugliness" while others saw in it a "blossoming". In part Degas' originality consisted in disregarding the smooth, full surfaces and contours of classical sculpture ... [and] in garnishing his little statue with real hair and clothing made to scale like the accoutrements for a doll. These relatively "real" additions heightened the illusion, but they also posed searching questions, such as what can be referred to as "real" when art is concerned. The suite of pastels depicting nudes that Degas exhibited in the eighth Impressionist Exhibition in 1886 produced "the most concentrated body of critical writing on the artist during his lifetime ... The overall reaction was positive and laudatory".
Ellen Price
In 1889 - 1895, Price was trained at school of Royal Danish Ballet and joined the theater of Royal Danish Ballet; she debuted on May, 28th 1895 with a pas de trois in the ballet "Window" (La Ventana) written by composer Hans Christian Lumbye and choreographed by August Bournonville. In 1903, she became a prima ballerina of Royal Danish Ballet. Her roles included "La Sylphide", "Cinderella", and "Little Mermaid".
The role of the Little Mermaid gave her the most unexpected glory. The ballet "The Little Mermaid", based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy-tale and set to music by Fini Henriques, was put by the choreographer Hans Beck (1861–1952) in 1909 with the Royal Danish Ballet. Among spectators of ballet had been Danish brewer and art collector Carl Jacobsen; the ballet left such a strong impression on him that he commissioned sculptor Edvard Eriksen to create a statue of the Little Mermaid. Though Price agreed to model for the statue, she refused to pose nude and her likeness was only used for the head of the statue. For the body of the statue, Eriksen used his wife Eline Eriksen as a model. The bronze statue that Eriksen created was unveiled on 23 August 1913 and presented to the city by Jacobsen. "The Little Mermaid" statue has since become a symbol of Copenhagen.