Gilded Age Magic: Rare theatrical posters of Harry Kellar on view at the Hudson Riv...

Page 1 of 2

The First Art Newspaper on the Net

Established in 1996

United States

Monday, May 28, 2012

Home

Last Week

Artists

Galleries

Museums

Photographers

Images

Subscribe

Comments

Search

Contact

Gilded Age Magic: Rare theatrical posters of Harry Kellar on view at the Hudson River Museum

Kellar and his perplexing cabinet mysteries. Strobridge Litho. Co., Cincinnati & New York, 1894. Chromolithograph poster. Collection of Bjorn Hanson.

YONKERS, NY.- Annihilation of Space, Projection of the Astral Body,and Maid of the Moon are the stuff of scary space phenomena but 1890s newspaper ads declared these feats the Ne plus ultra of the Magic Art. At the turn of the 20th century, magicians added their own luster to the booming culture of the American Gilded Age. Performing 10-minute vaudeville line-ups and one-man stage shows, they traveled from city to city laden with the equipment and entourage of a circus, their arrivals heralded with colorful posters and dramatic claims Thurston the great magician, the wonder show of the universe! Paying audiences were hooked and magicians elevated from street entertainers to international celebrities. Gilded Age Magic, organized by the Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, features rare theatrical posters of Harry Kellar (1849-1922), the Greatest of Wonder Workers, his successor Howard Thurston (1869-1936), and Chung Ling Soo, the American William Ellsworth Robinson (18611918) best remembered for his tragic death when his bullet catch trick malfunctioned. The exhibition also includes programs; magicians costumes as well as the spangled outfits of their assistants; rare promotional photographs of Thurstons performances; and how-to books for amateurs. Gilded Age Magic explores the evolution of the modern magic performance and its promotion through 20th century-advances in printmaking and advertising. The spirit cabinet (Cabinet of Mysteries,) seen in the exhibition, is an apparatus with a routine that Kellar devised from European magic. The antique cabinet, reproduced by Howard Thurston when Kellars first cabinet wore out, at times was shown empty to the audience but, when shut, occurrences inside began knocking sounds or the playing of tambourines, often combined with floating "ghosts," who moved in and out of the cabinet. Often Kellar or Howard Thurston opened the cabinet door to reveal a floating silver orb that emerged under their control, then to disappear into the cabinet shown empty again. Background sound design by artist John Morton includes vintage clips of magic shows, comedic performances, strange sounds effects, and popular songs, created to enhance the visitors sensory experience of the show. What makes a show spectacular? What makes a trick never to be forgotten? We look to the master of showmanship, Harry Kellar, who performed grandly titled illusions, such as The Levitation of Princess Karnak, around the country, but he called Yonkers home. He founded a royal dynasty of American magicians that included his most famous friend Harry Houdini (1874-1926). These showmen built their acts on an ever-widening disassociation from magics age-old traditions of sorcery and witchcraft and the slights of hand and escape tricks practiced by trickster criminals. Seeking a new route to their audiences, they moved from magics occult and supernatural origins to magic as entertainment pure, simple, and hopefully credible. The objects in Gilded Age Magic are drawn from The Rory Feldman Collection and The Bjorn Hanson Collection. The exhibition is organized by the Hudson River Museum and inspired by the research of Benjamin Levy on Harry Kellars connection to Yonkers.

http://artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=55623

5/28/2012

Gilded Age Magic: Rare theatrical posters of Harry Kellar on view at the Hudson Riv...

Page 2 of 2

Today's News
May 26, 2012

Most Popular Last Seven Days

Dresden celebrates 500th anniversary of Raphael's Sistine Madonna with exhibition SFMOMA presents "Contemporary painting, 1960 to the Present: Selections from the Collection" Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation funds photography space in the new Scottish National Portrait Gallery Christie's announces the most important piece of Isamu Noguchi furniture to ever appear at auction Maxfield Parrish: The Retrospective opens at the National Museum of American Illustration After New York Historical Society "Beer Here" exhibition tour, hop on over to its bar Five recent works by internationally renowned artist Rodney Graham on view at the Vancouver Art Gallery Gilded Age Magic: Rare theatrical posters of Harry Kellar on view at the Hudson River Museum Artist William Kentridge selects protg Mateo Lpez of Colombia for Rolex Arts Initiative Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art announces Agnes Wilkie as new Deputy Director Major installation by the German artist Thomas Kilpper opens at Kunsthal Charlottenborg Frist Center presents exhibition by acclaimed Folk and Self-taught Alabama artists Annie Oakley, Buffalo Bill and Custer headline Legends of the Wild West event at Heritage Auctions DeCordova presents Gary Webb's first United States museum exhibition Auction of Ronald Reagan blood vial canceled Major interdisciplinary exhibition "A House Full of Music" on view at the Mathildenhhe Darmstadt New mapping of Mars by Smithsonian shows western Medusae Fossae formation older than thought "Wendy Richmond: Navigating the Personal Bubble" opens at the RISD Museum of Art

1.- Kenyan-born paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey predicts

evolution debate will soon be history

2.- Unemployed Ohio man's luck changes with signed Pablo

Picasso print found in local thrift store

3.- Solo exhibition by Japanese artist, Chiharu Shiota, opens at

Haunch of Venison
4.- Joan Mir's work examined in landmark exhibition a first at the

National Gallery of Art

5.- Dancing with Renoir reunites trio of Impressionist paintings in

Boston for first time since 1986

6.- New National Gallery acquisition: Sir Thomas Lawrence's

"Portrait of the Hon. Emily Mary Lamb"

7.- Impressionism exhibition at the Carnegie Museum of Art

recaptures the radical nature of the movement

8.- Renowned collection of Hudson River School paintings visits

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

9.- Nude model causes a commotion in Urs Fischer exhibition at

Palazzo Grassi
10.- World record achieved for Ghanaian artist at Bonhams

Contemporary African Art Sale

Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography, Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs, Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

ArtDaily Search

Founder: Ignacio Villarreal Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal - Consultant: Ignacio Villarreal Jr. Art Director: Juan Jos Seplveda - Marketing: Carla Gutirrez Web Developer: Gabriel Sifuentes - Special Contributor: Liz Gangemi Special Advisor: Carlos Amador - Contributing Editor: Carolina Farias Royalville Communications, Inc produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org Founder's Site.

theavemaria.org The most varied versions of this beautiful prayer.

juncodelavega.org Hommage to a Mexican poet.

facundocabral-elfinal.org Hommage

http://artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=55623

5/28/2012