Isadora Duncan in the Parthenon, Athens
Artist: Edward Jean Steichen (American, 1879-1973)
Date: 1921
Dimensions:
19 3/4 x 14 3/16 in. (50.2 x 36 cm)
Medium: gelatin-silver chloro-bromide print
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Gift of The Georgia Welles Apollo Society
Object number: 2002.13
Label Text:In this dramatic image, the monumental columns of the ancient Greek temple the Parthenon tower above the “Mother of Modern Dance,” Isadora Duncan (1877–1927), who still manages to convey a presence as powerful as the architecture around her.
Edward Steichen, had long advocated for the elevation of photography to a fine art. In his early career he championed Pictorialism, taking dreamlike, soft-focus photographs with aesthetic qualities similar to paintings. Isadora Duncan in the Parthenon is Steichen’s last great image in this style, before he turned to artistic fashion photography for Vanity Fair and Vogue in 1922.
Steichen later described the occasion of the photograph: “…we went around to the portico with its line of columns. [Isadora] removed her cloak and stood there in her Greek tunic. And here she contributed what only an artist like Isadora could contribute. She made a gesture completely related to the columns.”
Edward Steichen, had long advocated for the elevation of photography to a fine art. In his early career he championed Pictorialism, taking dreamlike, soft-focus photographs with aesthetic qualities similar to paintings. Isadora Duncan in the Parthenon is Steichen’s last great image in this style, before he turned to artistic fashion photography for Vanity Fair and Vogue in 1922.
Steichen later described the occasion of the photograph: “…we went around to the portico with its line of columns. [Isadora] removed her cloak and stood there in her Greek tunic. And here she contributed what only an artist like Isadora could contribute. She made a gesture completely related to the columns.”
Not on view
In Collection(s)