Orval Hixon

Orval used his creative skills and abilities to create this “Flying Alcova” horizontal image. In his studio, he photographed her laying in position on a table. Later in the darkroom, he then removed the table from his 11x14 glass negative by dissolving the image using potassium ferricyanide. He then covered parts of th...

Beth Beri was a dancer who was rumored to have made up to $3,000 a week in her prime. Sometimes she danced alone and sometimes, she partnered with others such as Jay Velle and Paul O'Neill. She appeared in two musical revues (Jack and Jill in 1923) and (Rufus LaMaire's Affairs in 1927). She was in the very successful...

The evolution of abstract photography has primarily been driven by the pioneering explorations of individual artists. For this portrait, Orval Hixon used traditional methods to photograph the human form in a way that emphasized its abstract qualities. In this portrait of an unknown subject, we as viewers are invited to...

Dance Beth Beri never found success equal to that of fellow dancers such as Ann Pennington, but she did achieve notoriety through the 1920s for appearing in musical revues such as Jack and Jill and The Florenz Ziegfeld production Kid Boots. In this image, she stands barefoot against a wall with her right foot En Pointe...

Beth Beri was a dancer who appeared in two musical revues (Jack and Jill in 1923) and (Rufus LaMaire's Affairs in 1927). She was in the very successful musical comedy Kids Boots from 1923 to 1925. In this image made in 1920, her striking figure is posed in a composite stance. While her face remains mostly in shadow, he...

For the daughter of a doctor and an inventor, born on a modest New Jersey farm to grow up to reach for and attain literal and figurative heights of the glamorous life of a reknowned dancer. As a dancer, Ruth St. Denis would grow up to co-found the American Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts as well as instruc...

This solitary moment captured by Orval Hixon commemorates the Herbert Kinney and Corrine Kalich pantomime and dance act. Kinney sits on a low bench with one leg up and one leg on the floor. He is wearing a short dark tunic belted at the waist and accentuated by a tuille ruff. His brocade knee-length britches are offset...

Hixon's portrait emphasizes Ann Pennington's (1893-1971) magnetic appeal and big stage presence, but the diminutive star was actually less than five feet tall. A mainstay of Broadway musical revues such as the Ziegfield Follies and George White's Scandals, Pennington became famous for her youthful, vibrant dance perfor...

Mademoiselle Hortense Rhea (September 4, 1844 – May 5, 1899) was a Belgium-born French actress whose popularity extended to the Russian Empire and later the United States of America. The charm of her accent, as well as her beguiling smile, would help endear her to her audiences. Orphaned at an early age, then raised in...

In 1915 and 1916, Ada Forman danced with Florence O'Denishawn on tour and partnered with Ted Shawn in numerous works including Danse Javanese and Nature Rhythms. The duo also performed in exhibition ballroom performances such as Dance Vogue. She eventually left O'Denishawn to appear solo in vaudeville on the Keith-Albe...