Holtzman, Howard

Holward M. Holtzman (1921-1990) was a poet, lawyer and collector. His interest in Isadora Duncan began when he read her memoirs and sought to explore and document how her artistic expression influenced the history of art. For the next thirty two years, he collected materials by and about Isadora Duncan. Recognizing the role that certain figures in her life, both of personal and artistic nature, came to bear in shaping her artistic development, Holtzman acquired the Edward Gordon Craig material in this collection related to Isadora Duncan. For the performing arts, the transition from the 19th to the 20th century was a change from the pictorial and romantic to a more architectural and impressionistic framework. Craig's work in the theatre and Duncan's in dance both promoted these developments, and their collaborative works were considered to be revolutionary. Ellen Terry, Craig's mother and a famous Shakespearean actress, was a model for both of them as her artistic interests incorporated theatre, dance, music, and the visual arts and architecture. Holtzman conducted extensive research and collected materials that reflect influences on Isadora by others, and documented the impressions of many people who had seen her perform. Born Mary Dora Duncan on May 26, 1877 in San Francisco, Isadora Duncan lived in Oakland, Calif. with her mother, sister Elizabeth and brothers Augustine and Raymond, where she began to teach dance at the age of eleven. Her mother introduced her to Dickens, Shakespeare and Greek mythology, and played works by Chopin and Schubert on the piano. She and her siblings spent many hours at home in the evenings, and sometimes at salons organized by her mother, reciting from such literature and dancing. Her mother also read to her children from "free thinker" Robert Ingersoll, who rejected institutionalized religion. In developing her own form of art, Isadora Duncan was influenced by Walt Whitman, Emerson and American Transcendentalism, believing that dance movement should be motivated from within, based on a spiritual understanding of nature. Isadora and her family moved to the Chicago in 1896, New York and then London in 1899, where she gained recognition and her work was supported by society patrons, artists and intellectuals. She met Edward Gordon Craig in 1904 in Berlin, with whom she fell in love, then worked and toured together for three years in Germany, Russia, Poland and Sweden. She opened a school of dance for children in Bellevue, near Paris in 1914, and another in Moscow in 1921, and adopted several of her students, who performed as "The Isadorables" and "The Isadora Ducan Dancers of Moscow". Isadora Duncan married twice, to Paris Singer in 1909 and Serge Essenin in 1922. She had two children, a daughter with Edward Gordon Craig (Deirdre) and a son (Patrick) with Singer. Both were drowned in a car that accidentally rolled into the Seine, in 1913. She continued to dance until 1927. On September 14, 1927, while riding in a Bugati in Nice, France, the scarf that was tied around her neck became caught in the wheel, causing her death.

From the description of Collection on Isadora Duncan, ca. 1878-1990. (University of California, Los Angeles). WorldCat record id: 72727182

Biography

Howard M. Holtzman (1921-1990) was a poet, lawyer and collector. His interest in Isadora Duncan began when he read her memoirs and sought to explore and document the influence of her artistic expression on the history of art. For the next 32 years, he collected materials by and about Isadora Duncan. Recognizing the role that certain relationships, both personal and artistic, came to play in shaping her artistic development, Holtzman acquired the Edward Gordon Craig material in this collection. For the performing arts, the transition from the 19th to the 20th century was a change from the pictorial and romantic to a more architectural and impressionistic framework. Craig's work in the theatre and Duncan's in dance promoted these developments, and their collaborative works were considered revolutionary. Ellen Terry, Craig's mother and a famous Shakespearean actress, was a model for both of them as her artistic interests incorporated theatre, dance, music, and the visual arts and architecture. Holtzman conducted extensive research and collected materials that reflect others' influences on Isadora, and documented the impressions of many people who had seen her perform.

Born Mary Dora Duncan on May 26, 1877 in San Francisco, Isadora Duncan lived with her mother, sister Elizabeth and brothers Augustine and Raymond in Oakland, California, where she began to teach dance at the age of eleven. Her mother introduced her to Dickens, Shakespeare and Greek mythology, and played works by Chopin and Schubert on the piano. She and her siblings spent many hours at home in the evenings, and sometimes at salons organized by her mother, where they recited from literature and danced. Her mother also read to the children from "free thinker" Robert Ingersoll, who rejected institutionalized religion. In developing her own form of art, Isadora Duncan was influenced by Walt Whitman, Emerson and American Transcendentalism, believing that dance movement should be motivated from within, based on a spiritual understanding of nature. Isadora and her family moved to Chicago in 1896, New York and then London in 1899, where she gained recognition and her work was supported by society patrons, artists and intellectuals. In Berlin in 1904 she met Edward Gordon Craig, with whom she fell in love. She and Craig worked and toured together for three years in Germany, Russia, Poland and Sweden. She opened a school of dance for children in Bellevue near Paris in 1914, and another in Moscow in 1921, and adopted several of her students, who peformed as "The Isadorables" and "The Isadora Duncan Dancers of Moscow." Isadora Duncan married twice, to Paris Singer in 1909 and Serge Essenin in 1922. She had two children, a daughter with Edward Gordon Craig (Deirdre) and a son (Patrick) with Singer. Both were drowned in a car that accidentally rolled into the Seine in 1913. She continued to dance until 1927. While riding in a Bugati, a scarf tied around her neck caught in the wheel, causing her death in Nice, France, on September 14, 1927.

From the guide to the Howard Holtzman Collection on Isadora Duncan, ca. 1878-1990, (University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Department of Special Collections.)