Loie Fuller (1862-1928) created a unique art form by crafting mesmerizing, multi-media spectacles out of fabric, motion and light. With her swirling costumes and specially-engineered illuminations, this American-born artist enraptured fin de siècle Paris. A favorite subject of visual artists (Jules Chéret, Henri de Toulouse-Latrec, François-Raoul Larche, Pierre Roche, among others), she became the embodiment of the Art Nouveau movement. Fuller's unprecedented success in Europe paved the way for the careers of later modern dancers, including Isadora Duncan, Maud Allan, and Ruth St. Denis. Fuller was influential, not just in fields of dance and the visual arts, but also in lighting design, stagecraft and cinema. Given the today's preoccupation with technology and its origins, Fuller's ingenious use of special effects has particular relevance. An independent, visionary artist, Fuller fashioned herself into one of her era's most influential and celebrated performers.

English-language Books on Loie Fuller:

Garelick, Rhonda, Electric Salome: Loie Fuller's Performance of Modernism, Princeton University Press, 2007. READ Garelick on Sperling's work in relation to Fuller.

Cooper Albright, Ann. Traces of Light: Absence and Presence in the Work of Loie Fuller, Wesleyan University Press, 2007.

Current Richard Nelson & Marcia Ewing Current. Loie Fuller: Goddess of Light, Northeastern University Press, 1997.