Isadora in Revolt

Isadora Duncan (1877–1927) captivated audiences in the early decades of the 20th century with her uninhibited and modern dancing. Duncan's performances inspired countless modern artists—not only dancers, but also painters, sculptors, photographers, and poets—who celebrated the dancer's revolt against conventional morality and behavior.

Sloan recorded his admiration for her in several images and in his diary, where he stated: "I feel that she dances a symbol of human animal happiness as it should be, free from the unnatural trammels.... Her great big thighs, her small head, her full solid loins ... she dances away civilization's tainted brain vapors, wholly human and holy—part of God."