Photograph
Emil Chaquette was a violinist and leader of a 'society orchestra' in the early 1900s. Chaquette and well-known pianist Eddie Kuhn joined forces to create the seven-piece Kuhn-Chaquette Orchestra in 1918. Loren McMurray, a star saxophonist in the scene, joined them and their individual fame set the young group up for success. The Kuhn-Chaquette Orchestra became a very popular band in the Midwest that even incorporated dancers into their performances.
Emma Haig was born Emma Haig McGowan on January 21st 1898, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Haig was a theater performer during the vaudevillian era whose career included many notable musicals.
Emma Haig was born Emma Haig McGowan on 21 January 1898, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Haig was a theater performer during the vaudevillian era, whose career included many notable plays and venues.
As a teen, Ernestine Myers enrolled in Madame Marie Jung’s eminent Chicago Musical College. Myers studied under the famous Ruth St Dennis and Ted Shawn in LA. She became a headliner in New York’s 81st Street Theater, the Palace Theater and Winter Gardens. Her creative specialty was combining acrobatic toe dancing with ballet and Creole dancing. She was also featured in the Ziegfeld Follies and in the movie "Sinbad" with Al Jolson. Eventually, she joined the Keith and Shubert vaudeville companies on tour.
As a teen, Ernestine Myers enrolled in Madame Marie Jung’s eminent Chicago Musical College. Myers studied under the famous Ruth St Dennis and Ted Shawn in LA. She became a headliner in New York’s 81st Street Theater, Palace Theater, and Winter Gardens. Her creative specialty was combining acrobatic toe dancing with ballet and Creole dancing. She was also featured in the Ziegfeld Follies and in the movie Sinbad with Al Jolson. Eventually, she joined the Kieth and Shubert vaudeville companies on tour.
As a teen, Ernestine Myers enrolled in Madame Marie Jung’s eminent Chicago Musical College. Myers studied under the famous Ruth St. Dennis and Ted Shawn in LA. She became a headliner in New York’s 81st Street Theater, Palace Theater, and Winter Gardens. Her creative specialty was combining acrobatic toe dancing with ballet and Creole dancing. She was also featured in the Ziegfeld Follies and in the movie Sinbad with Al Jolson. Eventually, she joined the Kieth and Shubert vaudeville companies on tour.
Estrellita Castro Navarro was a Spanish singer and actress. She began singing at an early age in the streets of Sevilla, later going to school and gaining recognition from popular public figures that lead her to perform for King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenia at Sevilla Royal Alcázares at the age of 12. She then sang in theater all over the world. Her success as a singer helped her make a natural transition from theater to film, starring in her first full-length film "Rosario la Cortijera" in 1935.
In this portrait, the model is centered in a sideways pose, looking gleefully to her upper right. The figure is captured from her mid-section up, her left hand slightly touching her right arm, as her right hand cradles her chest. The model wears her curly hair short and quaffed meticulously. A prominent feature in this photograph is the diaphanous effect of the material that surrounds the central figure. The model is adorned with a pearl necklace, and two rings located on her right pinky and ring finger.
Evelyn Nesbit Thaw was an artist model, a chorus girl, and an actress. As a model, she posed for notable artists such as James Carroll Beckwith and Frederick S. Church. She was also on the cover of many popular magazines in the early twentieth century which made her face highly circulated and recognized. She moved on to theater with her first gig as a chorus line singer for the Broadway show "Florodora" (1899). She then landed a role as Vashti in "A Wild Rose" (1902) for which she received a great deal of press attention as the next up and coming star.
This photograph features twelve members of the Hixon family positioned together on a porch. Their attire suggests the photograph was taken in the early 1900s with the women in long skirts and Victorian blouses and the men in standard suits. The group spans all ages from a young girl in the front to the likely grandfather and mother in the center back row. Hixon is third from the right on the back row and appears to be in his younger years, perhaps in his late teens or early twenties.
This photograph is one of Hixon's many figure studies with an unknown woman. It offers a side view of her figure draped in black material. She looks up slightly at the camera from over a lowered shoulder while holding a globular ceramic vase. A light positioned below the figure emphasizes the curvature of her figure while also highlighting the curvature of the vase.
Flo Lewis was a vaudeville entertainer. She is recognizable by her crystalline eyes and long eyelashes. In this three-quarter view photograph, a paisley patterned fabric wraps her figure while a satin sheet drapes over her arms. She holds out a vase with a few thin limbs of foliage coming out of it. The vase appears to be a material extension of the satin fabric as their color, texture, and reflectivity are nearly identical. Although she holds out the vase as an offering, her eyes mesmerize with their gaze.
There is some uncertainty about how California-born Florence Andrews (1887-1991) became Florence O'Denishawn, but most attribute her name change to a misprint of "Florence of Denishawn," the renowned dance school. The name stuck even as O'Denishawn moved on to shows like the Ziegfeld Follies, and wherever she appeared, she helped ensure the legacy of her original teachers. In this image, the curtain offsets the mystery and allure of the scantily-clad O'Denishawn while also framing the scene as a stage performance.
Garbed in a classical ballerina tutu replete with petite swan wings, Florence O'Denishawn poses demurely against the wall with her crossed arms raised as if in a self-embrace. Her right hand is gently poised on her left shoulder. She stands En Pointe in satin ballerina slippers with her left foot ever so slightly positioned behind her right root. With her head tilted back and her chin pointed over her left shoulder, she demurely holds the viewer in her gaze. O'Denishawn is a composite of elegance and child-like playfulness captured in a moment of coy repose.
George Augustus Andrews was born in London. Known professionally as George Arliss, he began his stage career at the age of 18 and then came to the United States in his mid-30s where he appeared in numerous Broadway productions and films. He successfully made the conversion from theater to silent film and then from silent film to talkies, becoming the first British winner of an Academy Award for best actor in "Disraeli" (1929). Arliss' wife, actress Florence Montgomery, appeared in several films with him although when she lost her sight in 1937 he retired from the screen.
George Beban was born in California in the year 1873. Beban was an actor, writer, director, producer, and editor of over thirty films through 1910 to the 1920s. Beban had been a minstrel performer with the legendary team of Weber & Fields. Beban personal success was achieved producing and co-writing the play "The Sign Of The Rose" in 1911. He recreated this role for Thomas Ince in 1915 in a silent film renamed "The Alien". It was done as a multi-media event with Beban live on stage interacting with the screen presentation.
George White was variously skilled as a producer, director, author, dancer, and actor. He began dancing at a young age for a burlesque dancing team. He later performed in shows such as the "Ziegfeld Follies" and "The Pleasure Seekers", amongst others. In 1919, he produced and directed a series called "George White's Scandals" which matched popular music of the time with fast-moving sketches and glamorous women. In this traditional portrait, White wears a suit jacket and tie with his hair oiled back.
Grace La Rue was an American actress, singer, and vaudeville headliner. La Rue was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1882 to Mrs. Lucy L. Parsons. Parsons adopted the stage name of La Rue finding it a little more exotic than the family name. She began her career as part of the team Burke and La Rue with her first husband Charles Burke. One of their numbers was a minstrel piece entitled "Grace La Rue and her Inky Dinks." She soon broke away from the act - and Burke - to appear in musical comedy. In this photograph, she wears a tasseled dress and a satin pillbox hat.
Grace La Rue was an American actress, singer, and vaudeville headliner. Grace La Rue was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1882 to Mrs. Lucy L. Parsons. La Rue was a stage name as it was more exotic sounding than her original surname of Parsons. She began her career as part of the team Burke and La Rue with her first husband Charles Burke. One of their numbers was a minstrel piece entitled "Grace La Rue and her Inky Dinks." She soon broke away from the act, and Burke, to appear in musical comedy.
Gus Edwards was a songwriter and vaudevillian. Over the course of his career, he wrote and produced numerous vaudevillian classics and later established his own company through which many notable stars such as Eddie Cantor and Ina Ray Hutton gained fame. His success as a music producer led him to start the Gus Edwards Music Hall in New York where he collaborated with figures like William Cobb to produce major Broadway numbers. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970. He looks assuredly at the camera in this portrait while resting his elbow comfortably on a surface.