Painted, sculpted and photographed images of Loïe Fuller, the dancer hailing from the outskirts of 1860s Chicago, are among the most famous created in late 19th century Paris. In all these images – as well as in the present print - the dancer is depicted in a hypnotised state enveloped by swathes of billowing drapery, a visual spectacle that was accentuated by innovative use of stage-lighting. These so-called Serpentine Dances she pioneered allowed the human body to be consumed by movement, an effect that was perfectly exploited by early photography but also on the stage of the Folies Bergère, and in the films of Louis Lumière and Georges Méliès.

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