Corbett vs. Dempsey

works by Eddie Balchowsky

Eddie Balchowsky was a legendary pianist, artist, bohemian and Spanish Civil War hero. In 1937, Balchowsky accompanied singer Paul Robeson as he entertained troops in Spain; the pianist lost his hand in battle as a member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, which ended his hopes of becoming a concert pianist, though he was subsequently quite successful as a jazz musician back home in Chicago. Though it was acclaimed during the '50s and '60s, Balchowsky's artwork - including monoprints, a technique of which he was an important innovator - is almost never seen today. Balchowsky told his friend, beat poet Jack Micheline: "Before you can see you must first rid yourself of the misconceptions that ordinary people accept without question."