Isadora Duncan c. 1930s

Abraham Walkowitz made this watercolor of Isadora Duncan on paper, and what strikes me first is the sheer confidence of line, the way a few strokes define a whole figure. Look at how the washes of color create depth and shadow, almost like a stage set for Duncan’s dance. The pigment is translucent in places, allowing the paper to shine through, but becomes denser around the figure’s edges, giving her form weight and presence. The quick strokes capture the essence of movement, freezing a moment in time, and you get the sense of the artist trying to capture the ephemeral quality of dance. Walkowitz made hundreds of these drawings of Duncan, and in them you can see echoes of Rodin, another artist who was fascinated by the body in motion, but the speedy and expressive quality of these paintings is unique.