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Dancing Figure (Isadora Duncan)

Abraham Walkowitz

American Art

Mounted in this order by Abraham Walkowitz, this series of three drawings evokes the expressive choreography of the famous modernist dancer Isadora Duncan. The artist adopted an abstracted, linear approach to the body to capture the essence of Duncan’s dynamic movements and swirling drapery. After first seeing her perform in Paris in 1907, the enthralled Walkowitz produced thousands of drawings of the dancer. He viewed her rejection of academic standards in dance as analogous to his own artistic evolution.
MEDIUM Black ink and graphite on cream, medium-weight, moderately textured paper
DATES n.d.
DIMENSIONS Sheet (mount): 8 1/2 x 10 7/8 in. (21.6 x 27.6 cm) Sheet (drawing): 8 x 3 1/16 in. (20.3 x 7.8 cm)  (show scale)
SIGNATURE Signed in ink lower center: "A. Walkowitz"
COLLECTIONS American Art
ACCESSION NUMBER 39.473a
CREDIT LINE Gift of the artist
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Currently mounted to sheet with 39.473b-c
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Abraham Walkowitz (American, born Russia, 1878–1965). Dancing Figure (Isadora Duncan), n.d. Black ink and graphite on cream, medium-weight, moderately textured paper, Sheet (mount): 8 1/2 x 10 7/8 in. (21.6 x 27.6 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the artist, 39.473a (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 39.473a_PS6.jpg)
IMAGE overall, 39.473a_PS6.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2011
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RIGHTS STATEMENT © Estate of Abraham Walkowitz, courtesy Zabriskie Gallery, Inc.
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