The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Dark brown, bronze sculpture depicting a person twisting their body as if dancing, kneeling with their left leg crossed behind them, knee on the ground. They raise their hands up to the left of their face while they look away, down to their right. They have rounded limbs and a finely sculpted face with detailed curls in their pulled-back hair. A pleated skirt hangs around their waist and their chest rounds out at their breasts.

Dancing Figure

1916–18
sculptor

Elie Nadelman

(American, born Russian Empire [now Poland], 1882–1946)
America
bronze
Overall: 79.4 x 35.6 x 28 cm (31 1/4 x 14 x 11 in.)
Bequest of James Parmelee 1940.575
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

A larger version of this sculpture was originally conceived in limestone to decorate an outdoor garden in Long Island.

Description

Dancing Figure displays the geometrically simplified forms and softened angles that are a hallmark of Elie Nadelman’s work. Its spiraling composition presents a woman whose body partially twists on bended knee. Her raised arms echo the position of her legs.
  • James Parmelee
  • Solender, Katherine. The American Way in Sculpture, 1890-1930. Cleveland, OH: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1986. cat. #40, pp. 41-42, repr. p. 41
  • Object in Focus: Elie Nadelman, Kneeling Dancer. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (August 28-October 14, 2001).
    Fraternite: Artistic Relations Between France and America. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 21-October 18, 1987).
    The American Way in Sculpture 1890-1930. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 12-October 19, 1986).
    Circa 1930. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (April 12-October 31, 1983).
    Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 9/23/1975-2/15/1976: "Elie Nadelman Exhibition"
    Maurice Prendergast: 1859-1924. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (June 21-July 30, 1961).
    Atlantic City, New Jersey, The Municipal Gallery, 1919: "Exhibition of American Contemporary Art," cat. #48 (as The Dancer), repr. p. 65
  • {{cite web|title=Dancing Figure|url=false|author=Elie Nadelman|year=1916–18|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1940.575