Attr. to Valentine Lecomte Drawing Portrait of Dancer Isadora Duncan in Gold Frame

Portrait drawing of a dancer, probably Isadora Duncan, attributed to Valentine Lecomte (French, b.1872). Artwork in beautiful, custom gilded frame measures 19.5" x 18.5". Label from previous sale at Doyle Auction on the reverse. Artwork and frame in very good condition with light, scattered age appropriate wear. Valentine Lecomte was born in Paris on February 9, 1872, and trained under Tony Robert-Fleury. She began exhibiting at the Salon of the Société des Artistes Français in 1893 and went on to show regularly in Paris. Today, the majority of her works are held in private collections in England.

In 1903, Lecomte began sketching the pioneering dancer Isadora Duncan and continued documenting her throughout her life. This long-standing artistic focus produced a remarkable body of work that traces the full evolution of Duncan’s career—from lyrical beginnings to dramatic and ultimately tragic expression, following Duncan’s untimely death in 1927. In 1952, Lecomte collaborated with Raymond Duncan, Isadora’s brother, to publish The Dance of Isadora Duncan, a portfolio featuring 37 plates of her drawings.

Beyond her fine art practice, Lecomte also worked as an illustrator, contributing to Histoire de Bayard and Histoire de mes bêtes by Alexandre Dumas.