Edgar Degas Little Dancer Of Fourteen Years

Discuss how two artworks featuring the human figure represent the cultural forces from the world in which they were produced.

Art is intuitively reflective of cultural forces that impact societal values and sociology; through representation of the human figure, artists reveal their present insight into culture that has been informed by their personal life and audience. Inherently present in art, these manifestations of culture are contorted throughout time as social paradigms change. Edgar Degas’ sculpture, Little Dancer of Fourteen Years (1881) was indicative of the conservative and aristocratic community of the 18th century that disguised a world of vulnerability and despondency, replacing it with an overtly aestheticized portrayal of lifestyle and the human figure. His artwork commented on societies ignorance to this inconvenient truth by depicting a young dancer, a signifier for the prostitution and perversion that lay dormant within society. In contrast, Jean …show more content…
This is apparent in both Edgar Degas’ Little Dancer of Fourteen Years, and Jean Michael Basquiat’s Self Portrait as a Heel where the human figure is used to signify greater meanings. In Degas’ work, the hidden corruption of society, particularly within the Ballet scene is emphasised through the sculpture of a young dancer, opposed to Basquiat’s, where the deterioration of society during the recession and inherently racially biased judicial system is illustrated through his manic self-portrait. While these artworks both critique society, they depict contrasting cultural forces through different mediums and representation of the human figure. Artworks have an inextricable and reflexive relationship with their audience, the artist and surrounding world, allowing them to contort the human figure in order to reflect the cultural forces present when they were