Commissioned by Charles Garnier in 1869 for the façade of the Paris Opera House, Génie de la danse was met with scandal and outrage at its unveiling on 27 July 1869 for a rejection of the academic style and his choice for a male instead of female figure. Nonetheless, contemporaries were struck by the evocative allegory with its accompanying figures and billowing drapery calling up musicality, joy, rhythm and boundless energy within the spinning form.
Charles Garnier said of Carpeaux’s creative process after several unapproved drafts, `Immediately he took a quill, a piece of paper, and, in an instant, traced several magnificent lines and movements, the most skillfully rendered in the world, and, in short, five minutes later, his group was found! It was a very close indication of the work he would later execute and which would create such noise in the world!’ (Garnier, p. 434).
Carpeaux combined the body of a carpenter Sébastian Visat and the face of Polish Princess, Hélène de Racowitza for the main figure which leads the surrounding bacchantes and putto figures. The present rendition includes one of these figures at the feet. The final composition 1869 exceeded the commission requirements with nine figures instead of three and Carpeaux would go on to produce the sculpture in various media and editions to compensate the costs.
Garnier further said, ‘…if Carpeaux didn’t want to listen to me, to let him do as he pleased. I found his model superb; I was amazed by his life-like composition, and the pulsating modelling of his clay figures, and, in short, thought to myself: If the monument perhaps suffers a bit from the exuberance of my sculptor, it would have been a far greater loss if, persisting in my ideas, I deprived France of a work which would undoubtedly be a masterpiece’ (Ibid, p. 435).
The tour de force of French sculpture undoubtedly changed the Parisian artistic scene with an influence still felt today.