Tendu Devant 1850 - 1920

Curator: I’m immediately struck by how free and unbound she looks! Editor: We’re looking at “Tendu Devant,” a bronze sculpture crafted sometime between 1850 and 1920, by Edgar Degas. It’s currently housed here at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Curator: The movement Degas captured, even in this rigid material, is extraordinary. The gesture with her arm raised is such a symbol of joyful release, maybe triumph? And she’s a nude figure, pushing forward on her tiptoes... I wonder, what are we celebrating, here? Editor: The sculpture challenges, I think, some pretty ingrained societal views regarding the female body. Degas, through the Impressionist lens, captured a moment of everyday existence. Curator: I would add that the choice of bronze isn't just aesthetic, it's deeply symbolic. Bronze suggests endurance. This pose, this instant is immortalized; elevated. Are we supposed to understand that female power, resistance, and potential have a permanence, a solid unshakeable place in human culture? Editor: Potentially. Given his known association with primarily depicting women and dance, one might consider her figure an intentional choice and subtle rebellion against traditional expectations. Her figure is imperfectly rendered, realistically perhaps, but definitely divergent from many traditionally-statured female sculptures. Curator: Do you mean her stance is revolutionary or simply modern? I can't deny a sense of realism. Look at how one arm is less tense and perfectly outstretched compared to the other, like an athlete whose limbs have grown naturally without self-consciousness. Editor: In Degas’ era, representing a woman with a real body rather than a sanitized, idealized one was undeniably subversive. And to display her "tendue devant"—a ballet term for stretching forward—was a proclamation of female agency. Curator: I appreciate the layers we have unveiled together when studying this artwork. Editor: Me too. Every statue, a conversation waiting to be had.