Abraham Walkowitz, Isadora Duncan
03 Paintings, PORTRAIT OF A LADY, Isadora Duncan, with Footnotes. #60
Isadora Duncan
Watercolor, ink and graphite on paper
13 7/8 x 8 3/8 inches
Private collection
Angela Isadora Duncan (May 26, 1877 or May 27, 1878 — September 14, 1927) was an American and French dancer who performed to acclaim throughout Europe. Born in California, she lived in Western Europe and the Soviet Union from the age of 22 until her death at age 50, when her scarf became entangled in the wheels and axle of the car in which she was riding.
Isadora was born in 1877 in San Francisco and moved to Europe to become a dancer when she was in her early 20s. She had always loved to dance–in her teens, she worked as a dance teacher at her mother’s music school–but Duncan was not a classically trained ballerina. She was a free-spirited bohemian whose dances were improvisational and emotional; they were choreographed, she said, “to rediscover the beautiful, rhythmical motions of the human body.” Duncan typically danced barefoot, wrapped in flowing togas and scarves. Duncan’s performances celebrated independence and self-expression.