Public data from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Learn more
About the Artwork
While visiting London, sculptor Malvina Hoffman was electrified by a dance performance featuring Anna Pavlova and Mikhail Mordkin, two highly acclaimed Russian ballet stars. Together the dancers presented a bacchanale, a work inspired by the legendary followers of Bacchus, the ancient Roman god of wine. In this uninhibited and erotically charged piece, both dancers cavorted on stage, their movements accented by grasped veils of gauze. Hoffman’s Bacchanale is her vibrant interpretation of the performance, capturing a fleeting moment in permanent form.
Exhibition history
The American Way in Sculpture 1890-1930. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 12-October 19, 1986). Object in Focus: Malvina Hoffman, Bacchanale. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 8-March 10, 2002).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Malvina Hoffman (American, 1887–1966)
- Date
- 1917
- Medium
- bronze, copper, brass
- Dimensions
- without base: 172.7 x 137.2 cm (68 x 54 in.)
- Type
- Sculpture
- Classification
- Sculpture
- Department
- American Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- In memory of Julia K. Dalton by her nephews, George S. Kendrick and Harry D. Kendrick
- Accession no.
- 1943.384
Provenance
George S. and Harry D. Kendrick, Cleveland, Ohio.
More by Malvina Hoffman in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00010656
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