Isadora Duncan

Siberian-born abstract painter Abraham Walkowitz (1878–1965) is widely known for his watercolors of modern dancer Isadora Duncan (1877–1927).

Walkowitz met Duncan in 1906 while visiting Auguste Rodin’s Paris studio. Until her premature death in 1927, Duncan was his muse. Walkowitz’s works are the only accounts of Duncan’s dancing since she was never filmed. He served as her visual biographer, and Duncan once stated to him, “You have written my biography in lines without words that I can pass on.” Both Walkowitz and Duncan shared convictions toward modernism and severed links with past conventions in their respective mediums.

As a pioneer in 19th-century dance, Duncan cast aside traditional customs of dance attire, such as pointe shoes and tight tied-back hair. Instead, she left her hair loose, donned free-flowing dresses, and danced barefoot.

The Dorsky watercolor, one of eighteen in our collection, illustrates Walkowitz’s ability to expose her directness and the dynamism of her graceful movements. With Duncan clad in a sheer blue garment, he illustrates the circuitous motions of her form. Walkowitz drew her quickly using dark curvilinear lines to portray her body. Her garments draped against her body infer her rapid movements. The solid color background rendered through light brushstrokes elevates her as a monumental protagonist. He provides no distinct human features; rather, he focuses on Duncan’s movements as the subject. His treatment of light brushstrokes adds atmospheric energy.