Theft of Degas Sculpture

[Merlion]

This young ballet dancer by Degas is a relatively small sculpture. But it is an important milestone in the historic development of sculpture.

Con Man Charged in Theft of Degas Sculpture (http://1010wins.com/pages/58414.php)

NEW YORK -- A convicted con man was charged on Tuesday with stealing a $600,000 bronze sculpture of a dancer by Edgar Degas from a wealthy collector by masquerading as an art aficionado.

Thomas Doyle appeared in court to face charges of grand larceny and possession of stolen property .....

Doyle ``was a very talented con man,'' District Attorney Robert Morgenthau said. The collector, who was considering selling his town house and art collection, agreed to let Doyle take the Degas bronze to have it authenticated, prosecutors said. The 19-inch-tall piece by the French impressionist, who died in 1917, is titled ``Danseuse Regardant la Plante de son Pied Droit,'' or ``Dancer Looking at the Sole of her Right Foot.''

Prosecutors say Doyle secretly sold the sculpture to an antiques dealer for $225,000 in early 2005. ....

After Doyle failed to deliver on a promise to buy the sculpture, the collector reported it stolen, said authorities, who put its value at $600,000. If convicted, Doyle, 49, could face up to 15 years in prison.

[Landseer]

Prosecutors say Doyle secretly sold the sculpture to an antiques dealer for $225,000 in early 2005. For the next several months he stonewalled the collector, telling him that the piece was with a California expert, then that it had been damaged and was being repaired, prosecutors said.

After Doyle failed to deliver on a promise to buy the sculpture, the collector reported it stolen, said authorities, who put its value at $600,000. If convicted, Doyle, 49, could face up to 15 years in prison.

Interesting how this gallery bought this bronze which they had to have known something about- even *I* have seen this bronze, it's like the Mona Lisa- instantly recognizable.
$600,000 !!!! my head hurts...

[Merlion]

Oh, oh. I smell something's wrong.

I think the wrong photo was put in at the 1010wins link that I posted in. They showed the well known little dancer Degas sculpture wearing a skirt. But from the same link, there is this sentence.
"The 19-inch-tall piece by the French impressionist, who died in 1917, is titled ``Danseuse Regardant la Plante de son Pied Droit,'' or ``Dancer Looking at the Sole of her Right Foot.''

This little dancer is looking up isn't it? It is clearly not looking down at the sole of the foot.

Apparently, as Degas was very interested in painting ballet dancers, he had also created more then one sculpture on this topic.

A photo of another Degas dancer looking at the sole of the feet can be found here (http://www.tate.org.uk/servlet/ViewWork?workid=3702&roomid=2639) from the Tate Museum. The height 476 mm = 18.7 in is correct. By the way, this nude female may not be a dancer, but it does not really matter, does it?

[Landseer]

You are right, the photo is wrong on the 1010 site, I THOUGHT it was a wierd title when she wasn't even looking at her feet at all, but then titles aren't always perfect either.
I know the incorrect piece, I never saw the correct one before, I sort of like the first one but not the second one at all.

[Merlion]

You are right, the photo is wrong on the 1010 site, I THOUGHT it was a wierd title when she wasn't even looking at her feet at all, but then titles aren't always perfect either. ...

This article (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/19/nyregion/19scam.html?_r=1&ex=1153454400&en=30177a11e7ccd082&ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin) from the NY Times carries the photo of the correct bronze sculpture, a nude (or naked) woman standing on one foot and looking at the sole of the other foot pulled up by a hand. She may not be a dancer.

The article also mentions other interesting tales. I find it fascinating that five-figure collector's art piece can change hands so fast.

Mr. Alexander entrusted Mr. Doyle with a Degas bronze of a nude dancer looking at the sole of her right foot, a piece that prosecutors said was worth $600,000. Mr. Doyle said he would buy the sculpture, and in February 2005, he wired a $100,000 down payment to Mr. Alexander’s lawyer. But when asked for the rest, he gave a variety of excuses — his father had died, he had broken his leg, according to court papers.

In fact, prosecutors said, Mr. Doyle had sold the dancer to a Manhattan art gallery for $225,000, a fraction of its true value. Within three months, according to court papers, it changed hands three more times, ending up in the hands of a collector in Hong Kong. Mr. Alexander finally grew suspicious and contacted the district attorney’s office.

In 2005, Mr. Alexander sued three Manhattan galleries, Spanierman Gallery, Universe Antiques and the Rafael Collection Ltd., demanding the return of the Degas or repayment of its value. The suit is still winding its way through the courts, and Gavin Spanierman, director of the Spanierman Gallery, the last gallery to have the Degas, has refused to disclose the name of the Hong Kong buyer, saying that customers’ identities are confidential. “I bought it in good faith and sold it in good faith,” he said yesterday.

Digressing a bit, I remember reading that the other more famous Degas sculpture, the 'little dancer' with a skirt, was a wax, not a bronze. It was casted into bronze after he died.

[MountainSong]

Same here, I thought it was odd that she wasn’t looking at her foot either. As to the one who is looking at her foot, she doesn’t look like a dancer at all. Degas was good enough he would have insured the correct muscles of a dancer were flexed and a dancer wouldn’t have had to torc her body so much to see the sole of her foot.

[gwarseneau]

Edgar Degas never cast in bronze. Edgar Degas expressly stated he did not want to cast his sculptures in bronze.

Additionally, Edgar Degas’ mixed-media sculptures could not be cast directly into bronze and furthermore, Edgar Degas never signed his original mixed-media sculptures.

Yet, there are some 1,850 so-called “Degas bronzes,” promoted as “sculptures” all with a so-called “Degas” signature applied to them, that can be found in museums, cultural institutions and collections around the world.

How’d he do that?

The facts are these so-called “Degas bronzes,” misrepresented as “sculptures,” are nothing more than second to third-generation or more removed fakes, posthumously reproduced anytime between 1919 to 1956 or later, with counterfeit “Degas” signatures posthumously applied to create the illusion that he created them, much less signed them.

Edgar Degas died in 1917. By definition, rule of law and laws of nature, dead men don’t create sculptures, much less sign them.

Gary Arseneau