  About the Artwork
  
  
  The Dancer embodies Georg Kolbe’s preoccupation with the human body and movement, which dominated his sculptural output before the World War I. Kolbe was inspired by Vaslav Nijinsky, a ballet dancer and choreographer for the experimental dance company Ballets Russes, who visited the artist’s studio in November 1912. Kolbe experimented with proportions and anatomy of the figure to achieve an expressive result. He created dynamism by calling as much attention to the surrounding space as to the rhythmically articulated limbs and turned torso of the male nude. The dark, impenetrable patina reflects the light, unifying the body into the essence of spirited movement. Dance, especially in its modern form, remained Kolbe’s source of inspiration throughout his career.
  
  
  Title
  The Dancer
  
  
  Artwork Date
  1914
  
  Artist
  Georg Kolbe
  
  
  
  Life Dates
  1877-1947
  
  
  
  
  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  German
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
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  Medium
  Bronze
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 31 5/8 × 17 1/2 × 9 inches (80.3 × 44.5 × 22.9 cm)
  Overall (sculpture): 25 5/8 × 17 1/2 × 8 5/8 inches (65.1 × 44.5 × 21.9 cm)
  Overall (base): 6 × 9 5/8 × 5 1/4 inches (15.2 × 24.4 × 13.3 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Sculpture
  
  
  Department
  European Modern Art to 1970
  
  
  Credit
  Gift of Mrs. George Kamperman in memory of her husband Dr. George Kamperman
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  64.261
  
  
  Copyright
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