Lately while engaged in my most favorite hobby – thrift store browsing – I’ve been coming across a lot of those gorgeous art deco era dancer statuettes.   I don’t own any (yet) but I always linger looking at them, and I usually snap a photo to save for later reference.  Here are some of my most recent finds:

 

In the 1930s, while the world was in full-flapper funmode with short hemlines, sleeveless dresses, and an obsession with all things “exotic,” artists were equally obsessed with capturing the feminine mystique in form.  So we went from seeing sculptures capturing women like this:

daire
Artist D’Aire circa 1890-1900

 

statuemoreau
Artist: Moreau, circa 1860-1890

To seeing more things like this that celebrated the real female form unburdened by layers of Victorian-era clothes:

*Artist credits: Top left: Unknown, Top middle: Descompes, Top right: Vandermaelen, Bottom left: Colinette, Bottom right: Unknown

And don’t forget the dancers who were on the stages at that time, between 1910-1940…

Mata Hari, Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis and Sahari Djeli.  Notice any similarities in these figures?

I’m just saying – it was a beautiful time for female form, dance, and an appreciation for styles of movement fusing from around the world, don’t you think?

 

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