Frank Beacham's Journal

Gary Graver, Orson Welles’ last cameraman, was born 83 years ago today

Gary Graver, Orson Welles’ last cameraman, was born 83 years ago today.

Graver was a prolific filmmaker who specialized in low-cost “B” movie production and also directed adult films under the pseudonym, Robert McCallum.

At age 20, he moved to Hollywood to become an actor, but drifted into production when acting work was scarce.

In 1970, Graver made an unannounced call on Orson Welles, saying he wanted to work with the director. Welles told Graver that only one other person had ever called him to say they wanted to work with him —and that was Gregg Toland, who worked with Welles on “Citizen Kane.”

Graver shot one of Welles’ best films, the documentary, “F for Fake.” He also shot “Filming Othello,” and worked for years on the long and meandering unfinished project, “The Other Side of the Wind.”

Graver's work for Welles was unpaid, and during the shooting of one scene in “The Other Side of the Wind,” Welles used as a prop his 1941 Oscar that he won as the co-writer of “Citizen Kane.” When shooting was finished, he handed the statuette to Graver saying, "Here, keep this."

Graver understood this to be a gift in lieu of payment for his work. Graver held onto the award for several years until he ran into financial trouble in the 1990s, and in 1994 he sold it for $50,000. The purchaser, a company called Bay Holdings, then attempted to sell it at auction through Sotheby's in London.

When Welles' daughter, Beatrice Welles, learned of the intended sale, she successfully sued both Graver and the holding company to stop the sale. She eventually took possession of the statuette before then selling it herself.

Graver’s work in the adult film industry resulted in more than 135 films including “Unthinkable,” which won the AVN Award for Best All-Sex Video in 1985. He was later inducted into the AVN Hall of Fame for his work.

After meeting Welles in early 1985, one of the first people he introduced me to was Graver. He asked me to teach Graver to use a Betacam. Graver told me about his adult films and wanted to use a Betacam to try on one.

With the understanding I would let him use the camera to learn for work with Orson, I loaned a Betacam to Graver. He loved it and so did the entire adult film industry, which previously had used only 16mm film.

The project Graver shot with my camera heralded the permanent move of adult films to video. Graver told me I had a hand in starting something big in adult films. It wasn’t exactly what I had in mind in helping Orson Welles.

A couple of weeks after Orson’s death, Graver came by my office for a visit. He said something I will never forget. “I’ve been driving around for two weeks with Orson’s ashes in the trunk of my car,” Graver said in a matter of fact way.

“What?,” I responded, quickly envisioning a fender bender with the great man’s ashes being scattered across an LA freeway.

“I’m not going to take them into my house,” Graver said, almost fearing the prospect.

“What should I do?”

I thought for a minute, looked a Graver, and said,

“I don’t know.”

Graver died on November 16, 2006 at his home in Rancho Mirage, California after a lengthy battle with cancer.

Orson Welles’ ashes, by the way, were finally scattered in Spain on a bullfighter’s ranch.

Above, Gary Graver, Oja Kodar and Orson Welles on the set of The Other Side of the Wind

Photo by Frank Marshall

John Lodge of the Moody Blues is 76 years old today

John Lodge at Moody Blues Moondance Jam concert, July 14, 2007

John Lodge is 76 years old today.

An English musician, Lodge is best known as bass guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for The Moody Blues, and as a solo performer. He is also a record producer and has collaborated both with his bandmates in the Moody Blues and with other musicians outside the band.

Lodge attended school at Birches Green Junior School, Central Grammar School and later went to college at the Birmingham College of Advanced Technology for engineering. His early influences were musicians like Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis, and by age 15 met up with future bandmate, Ray Thomas. Lodge was initially involved in the Birmingham music scene, although he temporarily dropped out to continue his studies.

In 1966, however, after the Moody Blues' original bassist, Clint Warwick, had left the band, Lodge succeeded the temporary substitute bassist, Rod Clarke, as the permanent bassist and vocalist. He rejoined Ray Thomas during the same period as the band recruited guitarist/vocalist, Justin Hayward, to replace Denny Laine.

Lodge's distinctive falsetto ranged from a high harmonious voice and his solid lead vocals were a major asset to the revised Moody Blues from this point on.

Lodge's prolific songwriting for the Moody Blues has created such songs as "Peak Hour," "(Evening) Time to Get Away," "Gimme a Little Somethin'," "Ride My See-Saw," "House of Four Doors," "Eyes of a Child," "Send Me No Wine," "To Share Our Love," "Candle of Life," "Tortoise and the Hare," "Minstrel's Song," "Emily's Song," "Isn't Life Strange" and “I’m Just a Singer.” Both of the last two songs earned Lodge ASCAP songwriting awards.

Lodge co-wrote "Out and In" with Mike Pinder and recorded on To Our Children's Children's Children in 1969. He also collaborated with fellow Moody Blues member, Justin Hayward, on the 1975 album, Blue Jays, which in addition to Hayward's compositions included three songs written by Lodge: "Maybe," "Saved by the Music" and "You."

Lodge has been married to his wife, Kirsten, since 1968, and they are the parents of two grown children. Their first child, a daughter named Emily, was born in 1970 for whom Lodge wrote "Emily's Song" included on the 1971 Moody Blues album, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour.
His son, Kristian, was born two years later.

Here, in a 1989 interview, Lodge and Justin Hayward perform “Question” and answer questions about the Moody Blues

Nam June Paik, video artist, was born 89 years ago today

Nam June Paik, video artist, was born 89 years ago today.

A Korean American artist who worked with a variety of media and is considered to be the founder of video art, Paik is credited with coining the term "electronic super highway" in 1974.

Born in Seoul in 1932, Paik was trained as a classical pianist. In 1950, he and his family had to flee from their home in Korea, during the Korean War. His family first fled to Hong Kong, but later moved to Japan.

Six years later he graduated from the University of Tokyo, where he wrote a thesis on the composer Arnold Schoenberg. Paik then moved to Germany to study music history with composer, Thrasybulos Georgiades, at Munich University.

While studying in Germany, Paik met the composers, Karlheinz Stockhausen and John Cage, and the conceptual artists, Joseph Beuys and Wolf Vostell, who inspired him to work in the field of electronic art.

Paik then began participating in the Neo-Dada art movement, known as Fluxus, which was inspired by Cage and his use of everyday sounds and noises in his music. He made his debut at an exhibition known as Exposition of Music-Electronic Television, in which he scattered televisions everywhere and used magnets to alter or distort their images.

In a 1960 piano performance in Cologne, he played Chopin, threw himself on the piano and rushed into the audience, attacking Cage and pianist, David Tudor, by cutting their clothes with scissors and dumping shampoo on their heads.

In 1964, Paik moved to New York, and began working with classical cellist, Charlotte Moorman, to combine his video, music and performance. In the work, TV Cello, the pair stacked televisions on top of one another, so that they formed the shape of an actual cello.

When Moorman drew her bow across the "cello," images of her and other cellists playing appeared on the screens.

In 1965, Sony introduced the Portapak. With this, Paik could both move and record things, for it was the first portable video and audio recorder. From there, Paik became an international celebrity, known for his creative and entertaining works.

"The building of new electronic super highways will become an even huger enterprise. Assuming we connect New York with Los Angeles by means of an electronic telecommunication network that operates in strong transmission ranges, as well as with continental satellites, wave guides, bundled coaxial cable and later also via laser beam fiber optics: the expenditure would be about the same as for a Moon landing, except that the benefits in term of by-products would be greater," Paik said.

Paik was known for making robots out of television sets. These were constructed using pieces of wire and metal, but later Paik used parts from radio and television sets.

During the New Year's Day celebration on January 1, 1984, he aired “Good Morning, Mr. Orwell,” a live link between WNET New York, Centre Pompidou Paris and South Korea.

With the participation of John Cage, Salvador Dalí, Laurie Anderson, Joseph Beuys, Merce Cunningham, Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky, George Plimpton, and other artists, Paik showed that George Orwell's Big Brother had not arrived. Not yet, anyway.

Paik died in 2006.

Above, Paik in 1981

Photo by Lim Young-kyun

Natalie Wood was born 83 years ago today

Natalie Wood was born 83 years ago today.

A film and television actress, Wood was best known for her screen roles in Miracle on 34th Street, Splendor in the Grass, Rebel Without a Cause and West Side Story.

After first working in films as a child, Wood became a successful Hollywood star as a young adult, receiving three Academy Award nominations before she was 25 years old. She began acting in movies at the age of four. At age eight, she was given a co-starring role in the classic Christmas film, Miracle on 34th Street.

As a teenager, her performance in Rebel Without a Cause (1955) earned her a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She starred in the musical films, West Side Story (1961) and Gypsy (1962), and received Academy Award for Best Actress nominations for her performances in Splendor in the Grass (1961) and Love with the Proper Stranger (1963). Her career continued with films such as Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice in 1969.

After this she took a break from acting and had two children, appearing in only two theatrical films during the 1970s. She was married to actor Robert Wagner twice, and to producer Richard Gregson in between her marriages to Wagner.

She had one daughter by each: Natasha Gregson Wagner and Courtney Wagner. Her younger sister, Lana Wood, is also an actress. Wood starred in several television productions, including a remake of the film, From Here to Eternity (1979), for which she won a Golden Globe Award.

During her career, from child actress to adult star, her films represented a "coming of age" for both her and Hollywood films in general.

At age 43, Wood drowned near Santa Catalina Island, California at the time her last film, Brainstorm (1983), was in production with co-star, Christopher Walken. Her death was declared an accident for 31 years. In 2012, after a new investigation, the cause was reclassified as "undetermined."

On this day in 1933 — 88 years ago — best-selling novelist Cormac McCarthy, whose books include “All the Pretty Horses,” “No Country for Old Men” and “The Road,” which won the Pulitzer Prize, was born in Providence, Rhode Island

On this day in 1933 — 88 years ago — best-selling novelist Cormac McCarthy, whose books include “All the Pretty Horses,” “No Country for Old Men” and “The Road,” which won the Pulitzer Prize, was born in Providence, Rhode Island.

McCarthy’s novels, often set in the American Southwest, are known for being bleak and violent and often feature characters who are outsiders or criminals.

McCarthy, whose father was a lawyer, was raised in Tennessee and attended the University of Tennessee in the early 1950s. He dropped out of school in 1953 to serve for four years in the U.S. Air Force then returned to the university before leaving again without graduating.

McCarthy’s first novel, “The Orchard Keeper,” was published in 1965 and edited (along with several of his later novels) by Albert Erskine, the longtime editor for William Faulkner, to whom McCarthy has been compared.

During the 1960s and 1970s, McCarthy lived an impoverished existence as his next novels — “Outer Dark,” “Child of God” and “Suttree” — were each published to modest sales.

In 1985, he released “Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West,” about a violent gang of mercenaries hunting Indians on the Texas-Mexico border in the mid-19th century. Time magazine later named “Blood Meridian” to its list of 100 best English-language novels published between 1923 and 2005.

McCarthy’s commercial breakthrough came with 1992’s “All the Pretty Horses,” about the adventures of a young Texas cowboy and his friend who travel to Mexico in the mid-20th century. A best-seller, “All the Pretty Horses” won the National Book Award and was turned into a 2000 movie directed by Billy Bob Thornton and starring Matt Damon and Penelope Cruz.

The novel was the first book in McCarthy’s Border trilogy, which includes “The Crossing” (1994) and “Cities of the Plain” (1998).

“No Country for Old Men,” about a serial killer and a drug deal that goes wrong, debuted in 2005. The book was made into a 2007 feature film directed by Ethan and Joel Coen and starring Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones. It won four Academy Awards, including best picture.

In 2006, “The Road,” about a father and son who journey across a post-apocalyptic wasteland, was published. The novel won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize.

In 2007, the famously reclusive McCarthy gave his first-ever television interview to Oprah Winfrey after she selected “The Road” for her on-air book club. In 2009, a big-screen adaptation of “The Road,” featuring Viggo Mortensen, was released.

That same year, McCarthy auctioned off the manual typewriter on which he’d written all his novels. The machine, which he bought at a Tennessee pawn shop in 1963 for $50, sold for $254,500.

The author donated the proceeds to the Santa Fe Institute, a scientific think tank. A friend gave McCarthy a replacement typewriter of the same model, reportedly purchased for less than $20.

Cormac continues to write, working on several novels.

Bob Dylan’s "Like a Rolling Stone" was released as a single by Columbia Records on this day in 1965 — 56 years ago today

Bob Dylan records "Like a Rolling Stone," 56 years ago

Bob Dylan’s "Like a Rolling Stone" was released as a single by Columbia Records on this day in 1965 — 56 years ago today.

The song was written by Dylan in June, 1965 in confrontational lyrics after he returned exhausted from a grueling tour of England. Dylan distilled this long draft into four verses and a chorus.

"Like a Rolling Stone" was recorded a few weeks later as part of the sessions for the forthcoming album, Highway 61 Revisited. It was take #4 recorded on June 16 that Dylan selected for release.

During a difficult two-day preproduction, Dylan struggled to find the essence of the song, which was demoed without success in 3/4 time. A breakthrough was made when it was tried in a rock music format, and rookie session musician, Al Kooper, improvised the organ riff for which the track is known.

However, Columbia Records was unhappy with both the song's length at over six minutes and its heavy electric sound, and was hesitant to release it. It was only when a month later a copy was leaked to a new popular music club and heard by influential DJs that the song was put out as a single.

Although radio stations were reluctant to play such a long track, "Like a Rolling Stone" reached #2 in the U.S. Billboard charts (#1 in Cashbox) and became a worldwide hit. Critics have described the track as revolutionary in its combination of different musical elements including the youthful, cynical sound of Dylan's voice and the directness of the question, "How does it feel?"

"Like a Rolling Stone" transformed Dylan's image from folk singer to rock star, and is considered one of the most influential compositions in postwar popular music. The song has been covered by numerous artists, from The Jimi Hendrix Experience and The Rolling Stones to The Wailers and Green Day.

At an auction two years ago, Dylan's handwritten lyrics to the song fetched $2 million — a world record for a popular music manuscript.

Dylan performed the song live for the first time within days of its release, when he appeared at the Newport Folk Festival on July 25, 1965 in Newport, Rhode Island. Many of the audience's folk enthusiasts objected to Dylan's use of electric guitars, looking down on rock 'n roll. The folkies, as guitarist Mike Bloomfield put it, thought of the song as popular amongst "greasers, heads, dancers, people who got drunk and boogied."

According to Dylan's friend, music critic Paul Nelson, "The audience [was] booing and yelling 'Get rid of the electric guitar'," while Dylan and his backing musicians gave an uncertain rendition of their new single.

Highway 61 Revisited was issued at the end of August, 1965. When Dylan went on tour that fall, he asked Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm, future members of The Band, to join Al Kooper and Harvey Brooks, to accompany him in performing the electric half of the concerts.

"Like a Rolling Stone" took the closing slot on his setlist and held it, with rare exceptions, through the end of his 1966 "world tour."

On May 17, 1966, during the last leg of the tour, Dylan and his band performed at Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England. Just before they started to play the track, an audience member yelled "Judas!," apparently referring to Dylan's supposed "betrayal" of folk music.

Dylan responded, "I don't believe you. You're a liar!" With that, he turned to the band, ordering them to "play it fucking loud."

Since then, "Like a Rolling Stone" has remained a staple in Dylan's concerts, often with revised arrangements. It was included in his 1969 Isle of Wight show and in both his reunion tour with The Band in 1974 and the Rolling Thunder Revue tour in 1975–76. The song continued to be featured in other tours throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

On the Never Ending Tour, which began in 1988 and continues today, "Like a Rolling Stone" has been one of the five most performed songs, with 653 performances registered through 2005.

Here, Bob Dylan performs “Like a Rolling Stone” at Newport, 1965

Al Kooper at the organ

Bob Dylan and crew listen to the final recording of "Like a Rolling Stone" in the summer of 1965 — 56 years ago.

On the left, turning to his left, is producer Tom Wilson. In the middle back is Albert Grossman. On the right is Bob Dylan with his friend, Danny Kalb.

Kalb said he was invited to the studio by Dylan that day to listen to the recording.

Jan Rose Kasmir, 17, offers a flower to soldiers during a Pentagon antiwar protest, 1967

Photo by Marc Riboud

Karen Dalton, folk blues artist, was born 84 years ago today

Photo by Elliot Landy

Karen Dalton, folk blues artist, was born 84 years ago today.

Born Karen J. Cariker, Dalton was a Cherokee folk blues singer, guitarist and banjo player. She was associated with the early 1960s Greenwich Village folk music scene, particularly with Fred Neil, the Holy Modal Rounders and Bob Dylan.

Born in Enid, Oklahoma, Dalton’s bluesy, world-weary voice is often compared to jazz singer Billie Holiday, though Dalton said Bessie Smith was a greater influence. She sang blues, folk, country, pop, Motown — making over each song in her own style. She played the twelve string guitar and a long neck banjo.

Dalton's first album, It's So Hard to Tell Who's Going to Love You the Best (Capitol, 1969), was re-released by Koch Records on CD in 1996.

Dalton's second album, In My Own Time (1971), was recorded at Bearsville Studios and originally released by Woodstock Festival promoter Michael Lang's label, Just Sunshine Records. The album was produced and arranged by Harvey Brooks, who played bass on it.

Piano player Richard Bell guested on In My Own Time. Its liner notes were written by Fred Neil and its cover photos were taken by Elliott Landy.

Both of Dalton's albums were re-released in 2006. It's So Hard To Tell Who's Going To Love You The Best, on the French Megaphone-Music label, included a bonus DVD featuring rare performance footage of Dalton. In My Own Time was re-released on CD and LP on November 7, 2006 by Light In The Attic Records.

Known as "the folk singer's answer to Billie Holiday" and "Sweet Mother K.D.", Dalton is said to be the subject of the song "Katie's Been Gone" (composed by Richard Manuel and Robbie Robertson) on the album The Basement Tapes by The Band and Bob Dylan.

Dylan wrote of Dalton that "my favorite singer...was Karen Dalton. Karen had a voice like Billie Holiday and played guitar like Jimmy Reed... I sang with her a couple of times."

Dalton was closely associated with singer/songwriter Tim Hardin, whose songs she covered. She was among the first to sing his "Reason to Believe." She was married to guitarist Richard Tucker, with whom she sometimes played as a duo, and in a trio with Hardin.

She died from an AIDS-related illness in her mobile home in Woodstock, New York at age 55 in March of 1993. The trailer is still located in a clearing off Eagle's Nest Road, outside the town of Hurley, near Woodstock.

According to her friend, Peter Walker, Dalton had been living with AIDS for over eight years.

Karen Dalton performs “It Hurts Me Too”

Karen Dalton with Tim Hardin in Boulder, Colorado, 1960s

Photo by Dan Hankin

George McGovern was born 99 years ago today

George McGovern was born 99 years ago today.

A historian, author, U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 presidential election, McGovern grew up in Mitchell, South Dakota, where he was a renowned debater.

He volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Forces upon the country's entry into World War II and as a B-24 Liberator pilot flew 35 missions over German-occupied Europe. Among the medals bestowed upon him was a Distinguished Flying Cross for making a hazardous emergency landing of his damaged plane and saving his crew.

After the war he gained degrees from Dakota Wesleyan University and Northwestern University, culminating in a PhD. He became a history professor.

McGovern was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1956 and re-elected in 1958. After a failed bid for the U.S. Senate in 1960, he was a successful candidate in 1962.

As a senator, McGovern was an exemplar of modern American liberalism. He became most known for his outspoken opposition to the growing U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. He staged a brief nomination run in the 1968 presidential election as a stand-in for the assassinated Robert F. Kennedy.

The subsequent McGovern–Fraser Commission fundamentally altered the presidential nominating process, by greatly increasing the number of caucuses and primaries and reducing the influence of party insiders. The McGovern–Hatfield Amendment sought to end the Vietnam War by legislative means, but was defeated in 1970 and 1971.

McGovern's long-shot, grassroots-based 1972 presidential campaign found triumph in gaining the Democratic nomination, but left the party badly split ideologically.

The failed vice-presidential pick of Thomas Eagleton also undermined McGovern's credibility.

In the general election, McGovern lost to incumbent Richard Nixon in one of the biggest landslides in American electoral history. Re-elected Senator in 1968 and 1974, McGovern was defeated in a bid for a fourth term in 1980.

Throughout his career, McGovern was involved in issues related to agriculture, food, nutrition and hunger. As the first director of the Food for Peace program in 1961, McGovern oversaw the distribution of U.S. surpluses to the needy abroad and was instrumental in the creation of the United Nations-based World Food Program.

He died at age 90 in October, 2012.

Above is McGovern and I in 2008 in New York City

Photo by Margo Re

George McGovern: A Personal Remembrance

Today, on the 99th anniversary of George McGovern’s birth, I can’t help but be wistful about the sad state if our national politics.

As one who knew McGovern, followed his work and reported on it, listened to his speeches, drank with him and always admired him, I can honestly say the man might have been one of our greatest presidents. But sadly, it never happened.

In college, being from the poor state of South Carolina, I came to Washington in 1968 to report on McGovern’s hearings on hunger. I could not help being impressed.

Yes, he was a liberal of the highest order — one who wanted to help poor people live a better life. He was attacked for that. I also appreciated his opposition to the Vietnam War, especially since I was very high on the list of young men about to be drafted in 1968. He was attacked for that too.

George McGovern was one of the most decent men to ever run for political office in the United States. It was a time — before money had totally corrupted politics — when good people could still be elected to office.

In 1970, I worked on Capitol Hill just out of college for Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia. I would go to a little bar across the street from my Senate office after work. McGovern was often there with his chief aide, Gary Hart. Hart would later become a U.S. Senator himself from Colorado

I knew and liked both McGovern and Hart and we’d often drink together. I knew them as both really good people who genuinely cared about the world.

One day, Gary Hart asked me to lunch in the Senate Dining Room. He offered me a job working for McGovern, who, he revealed, was planning a long shot run for the presidency. Skeptical, I turned him down. I was sick of politics at this point and wanted out. Writing was my thing, I told him.

The position, which seemed so lowly at the time, would later be taken by Frank Mankiewicz, the son of screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz, who co-wrote Citizen Kane with Orson Welles. Mankiewicz would later become press secretary for McGovern in the 1972 campaign and press secretary to Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in New York.

Though I don’t regret passing on the job, I had off and on contact with George McGovern throughout his entire life. He is the only politician I ever had deep respect for.

In the era of Richard Nixon, whose reign in power turned out to be far more toxic than anyone could even imagine back in the 60s, McGovern offered an alternative of incredible decency and solid thinking. America’s rejection of him was tough for me to swallow. But one thing was proven to be true — the quality of our presidential candidates has gone down ever since. The presidency itself has now reached an all time low.

I heard McGovern speak again in 2008. He was then 86. Even at his advanced age, he was dead on right with everything he said. I still wanted him to be president, but it was not to be.

Above is a frame from a 16mm film clip of (a very young) me interviewing McGovern for the first time outside his Senate office in 1968.

“One Bright and Shining Moment” is a documentary on George McGovern's presidential campaign of 1972.

Edgar Degas was born 187 years ago today

Edgar Degas in a self-portrait in 1855

Edgar Degas was born 187 years ago today.

A French artist famous for his paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings, Degas is especially identified with the subject of dance — more than half of his works depict dancers. He is regarded as one of the founders of Impressionism, although he rejected the term, and preferred to be called a realist.

Degas was a superb draftsman and masterly in depicting movement — as can be seen in his renditions of dancers, race course subjects and female nudes. His portraits are notable for their psychological complexity and for their portrayal of human isolation.

At the beginning of his career, he wanted to be a history painter, a calling for which he was well prepared by his rigorous academic training and close study of classic art.

In his early thirties, he changed course, and by bringing the traditional methods of a history painter to bear on contemporary subject matter, he became a classical painter of modern life. During his life, public reception of Degas's work ranged from admiration to contempt.

As a promising artist in the conventional mode, Degas had a number of paintings accepted in the Salon between 1865 and 1870. These works received praise from Pierre Puvis de Chavannes and the critic, Jules-Antoine Castagnary.

He soon joined forces with the Impressionists, however, and rejected the rigid rules, judgements and elitism of the Salon — just as the Salon and general public initially rejected the experimentalism of the Impressionists. Degas's work was controversial, but was generally admired for its draftsmanship.

His La Petite Danseuse de Quatorze Ans, or Little Dancer of Fourteen Years, which he displayed at the sixth Impressionist exhibition in 1881, was probably his most controversial piece. Some critics decried what they thought its "appalling ugliness" while others saw in it a "blossoming."

Recognized as an important artist in his lifetime, Degas is now considered "one of the founders of Impressionism.”

Though his work crossed many stylistic boundaries, his involvement with the other major figures of Impressionism and their exhibitions, his dynamic paintings and sketches of everyday life and activities, and his bold color experiments, served to finally tie him to the Impressionist movement as one of its greatest artists.

Musicians in the Orchestra, 1870

Painting by Edgar Degas