Isadora Duncan Dancing

Isadora Duncan (1877-1927), considered the founder of modern dance, was a child prodigy who by age six was teaching others. She was known for her dramatic expression and was inspired by Greek myths. In this work, she appears almost as if an ancient statue in motion. As the photographer Arnold Genthe wrote of Duncan in 1950, "Her idea was not to be a Greek dancer, but to use the Greek dancing legend handed down in statue, frieze and painted vase as an inspiration for a play of rhythmic motion and gesture that would have grace and beauty and freedom, synchronizing the body and spirit of the modern woman and making it the implement of a great plastic art." This is one of seven drawings depicting the dancer in varying poses in the Allen's collection by Walkowitz, who met her in Paris in 1906 during a time when he was heavily influenced by Picasso and Matisse.