Isadora Duncan, by John Sloan, 1915. This drawing of the dancer Isadora Duncan appeared on the back cover of The Masses magazine. Sloan did a series of drawings of Duncan that capture her free and wild movement. Duncan was widely admired in that period for her natural grace, her spirited athleticism, and her emphasis on a freer style of costume that she believed was inspired by the ancient Greeks. The freedom of her interpretations led many to consider her the creator of modern dance. Her bisexuality and socialist beliefs gained the approval of the left-leaning arts scene, which is in part why she appeared on the back cover of The Masses. She performed (with some loss of ability) until her death in 1927 when one of her long scarves caught in the tires of a moving car. At the time that Sloan did his drawing, she was 38.
