Troy Sylvanus Kinney (1871–1938) was an American etcher, illustrator, painter, and author renowned for his evocative portrayals of dancers and classical nudes. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, to William and Mary Kinney, he pursued formal education at Yale University, graduating in 1896. He briefly worked as a newspaper illustrator in the Baltimore area before advancing his training at the Art Institute of Chicago, where he later became a full member of the Chicago Society of Etchers.

In 1900, Kinney married Margaret Winifred West (1872–1952), with whom he formed a prolific artistic partnership known as “The Kinneys.” Together they produced illustrations for major publications, including covers for *Harper’s Bazaar*, and co-authored influential books such as *The Dance: Its Place in Art and Life* (1914) and *Social Dancing of Today*. Kinney traveled extensively to document global dance traditions, collaborating directly with performers including Ruth St. Denis, Anna Pavlova, and Sophie Pflanz. His etchings and drypoints captured the grace and dynamism of ballet and modern dance with remarkable precision and elegance.

Kinney’s artistic output extended beyond dance to fanciful subjects and classically styled nudes, executed primarily in intaglio techniques. He held memberships in the Society of American Etchers and the National Academy of Design, and his works entered prominent collections including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, and the Library of Congress. Notable examples include the 1919 drypoint *Swallows* and numerous dance studies now prized by collectors.

Kinney spent his later years near his studio in Falls Village, Connecticut, where he died in 1938, survived by his wife and their son, John West Kinney. His legacy endures through his sensitive documentation of early twentieth-century dance and his contributions to American printmaking, which continue to inform both art-historical study and museum holdings today.