“Can you find all the Nina’s?“

I remember my first Al Hirschfeld drawing. It was his illustration of magician Harry Blackstone, Jr.  A budding magician myself, my parents drove us to West Point Military Academy in 1981 to see his full-evening show on the stage of the Eisenhower Hall theater. As memorable as the show was (a lightbulb floated out, illuminated, over the heads of the audience!), equally memorable was the playbill.

There on its cover was Blackstone, captured by Hirschfeld’s pen, five Nina’s hidden away in a pigeon’s tailfeathers. There were just enough pen strokes in the drawing to capture the essence of the subject, no more and no less. As I write this, it reminds me of my high school English teacher who said that the Red Badge of Courage contained precisely the number of words necessary to deem it a great American novel, no more and no less. Hirschfeld’s illustration of Blackstone did the same sort of thing, but with lines.

I became fascinated by Hirschfeld’s work, and over the years have been collecting both originals, lithographs, and gicleé prints by Hirschfeld. The crowning glory was when, in 2000, Hirschfeld did an illustration of me.

Ace of Hearts, signed for me by Al Hirschfeld in his studio, August 27, 2000

What an honor – I’ll explain the whole experience in another blog post, including the unveiling at Margo Feiden’s gallery on Madison Avenue (she’s since moved to a townhouse downtown).

What I’d like to do here is record every magician that Hirschfeld drew, to my knowledge. Some are professional magicians, some are amateurs. Some I have scans of, and others I don’t.

UPDATED ON MAY 29, 2019 WITH AN ADDITIONAL IMAGE I’VE LOCATED,

THANKS TO READERS OF THIS BLOG.

Magicians captured by Al Hirschfeld’s pen:

Houdini

David Copperfield

David didn’t like the original Hirschfeld illustration for his Broadway show “Dreams and Nightmares” (pictured above) so he commissioned Hirschfeld to create another one:

Penn & Teller

Harry Blackstone, Jr.

Doug Henning, in the Broadway musical Merlin

Doug Henning, in The Magic Show

Ricky Jay (w/ David Mamet)

Orson Welles

Danny Kaye (also an amateur magician)

Cary Grant (on board of directors of the Magic Castle, Hollywood, CA)

Johnny Carson (known as the Great Carsoni, early in his career)

Woody Allen

Harry Lorayne

Harry Anderson, with cast of Night Court

Steve Martin

Dick Cavett

Alan “Ace” Greenberg (of Bear Stearns)

Milton Berle

Dom DeLuise

Tony Curtis, with Janet Leigh, Houdini movie

Ray Bolger, as a bumbling magician

Avner the Eccentric

Bob Fitch

Jason Alexander, with cast of Seinfeld

Jackie Gleason, with Art Carney

Dick Van Dyke

If you know of others, please contact me. My goal is to list every known magic-related Hirschfeld illustration.

The post Al Hirschfeld’s magicians – UPDATED appeared first on Chamber Magic.

Chan Canasta (1920-1999) is one of my heroes in magic. In front of live audiences he took major risks that are breathtaking to behold. Sometimes a trick wouldn’t work and his entire presentation failed. Unlike a traditional magician, Chan Canasta was fine with that. Failure was an acceptable outcome. But when he succeeded, ah! The outcome was gloriously impossible. This was part of the public’s fascination toward Chan’s brand of psychological illusion – they were keenly aware that his experiments could fail, so they believed he was real. His approach elicited empathy, and audiences earnestly wanted him to succeed.

“Failure only makes the successes more exciting.” -Chan Canasta

In the 1950s and 60s, Chan appeared on hundreds of television shows in England and the United States, including the Ed Sullivan show and The Tonight Show with Jack Paar.

Later in life, he left the world of public performance and focused on another lifelong passion – painting. As artists evolve, they often find new outlets to express themselves. Chan put down the deck of cards and picked up a paintbrush to stimulate audiences in a fresh way. His paintings presented the world in a dreamlike fashion, challenging viewers to discern the difference between reality and illusion.

Today Chan Canasta paintings are seldom seen – most are held in private collections spread across the globe. I encountered my first Chan Canasta painting in 2004 hanging on the wall of Derren Brown’s flat in London. It made an impact on me because I knew that the canvas behind the plate glass had been personally touched by our mutual hero. Although Chan died in 1999 and I had never met him in person, I felt his presence while standing in the same room as his painting.

Years later, I chanced across an eBay auction containing twenty Chan Canasta paintings. At the time I wasn’t in the market to purchase art, but I felt a sudden inspiration to create screenshots of each painting. I saved those digital files and later posted them in a blog post on my website, dated April 13, 2010. The dealer selling these paintings was located in Brussels, Belgium, and I instructed my blog visitors to contact this dealer via eBay if they wished to purchase an original Canasta.

After a week of being listed on eBay, something magical yet disturbing happened. Not only did the auction listings end, but the Belgian art dealer himself had vanished. There was no way to track him down on eBay, since he had used an untraceable screen name that didn’t correspond to any known galleries.

I continued to host the twenty images on my blog. Five years passed.

On January 9, 2015, I received an email from a lady named Renata Kadrnka who explained that she was Chan Canasta’s widow. The day she wrote would have been Chan’s 95^th birthday and she was reminiscing about life with her late husband. Renata had searched the Internet for articles about Chan, and stumbled across my blog post.

To my knowledge, Renata has had no contact with magicians or show business folk since Chan died. I would venture to say that nobody in the magic business even knew she existed.

This fortuitous email was the beginning of a long conversation that continued for months. As we wrote and spoke with each other, I asked Renata if she would be interested in presenting an exhibition to feature Chan’s artwork and to celebrate his life. Renata lives in Europe but had been planning to visit the United States with her daughter, so together we decided to launch a special exhibition during their stay.

My Chamber Magic shows at the Waldorf Astoria hotel are held on Friday and Saturday each week in a spacious suite in the Waldorf Towers. I explained to Renata that this would be an ideal location for our event, so we decided to host it in my familiar environs.

Once the ball began rolling, all sorts of developments began to surface. Renata tracked down other fans and friends of Chan’s, several who own paintings they have agreed to loan to our exhibition. Most recently, she even located the Belgian art dealer who has been storing all twenty of the eBay paintings in the basement of his gallery! He has graciously agreed to ship those paintings to New York to add immeasurable breadth to our exhibition.

One exciting development is that Renata has located TV footage of Chan’s appearances that has not been viewed since the 1960s. This footage is currently being transferred to DVD and will be screened at our event.

The date of this historic celebration is Sunday, June 28, 2015 from 2pm to 5pm in my Waldorf Towers suite; Renata will be there to greet visitors and talk about her husband’s life and work. If you plan to attend my Chamber Magic show earlier that weekend at the Waldorf Astoria, I suggest you make plans soon since those shows (June 26 and 27) will sell out quickly. The Chan Canasta event on Sunday is free, and some paintings will be available for purchase.

Throughout his career, Chan Canasta was known as a remarkable man. I guarantee he will continue to dazzle and delight modern audiences and viewers with the wonder of his timeless artistry.

Details:

Date: Sunday, June 28, 2015

Time: 2pm to 5pm

Address: The Towers of the Waldorf Astoria, 100 East 50th Street, New York, NY

RSVP by June 15th to: hollypeppe@gmail.com

The post Chan Canasta Art Exhibition in New York appeared first on Chamber Magic.

Uslan is the creator and executive producer of the Batman movies (all of them since 1989’s Batman with Jack Nicholson, up to and including the most recent Batman Begins and The Dark Knight). He also has a compelling new book out, titled The Boy Who Loved Batman.

Ever since 1975, I’ve been a serious Batman fan. I collected many comics through high school and college (“Mom, did you throw them away? They’re worth a bundle now!”) but the only titles I purchased consistently were Batman and Detective Comics.

Throughout elementary school I dressed up like Batman and walked through town. In costume!! I built my own utility belt out of oaktag and paper fasteners, and thought that every umbrella in our house might be one of the Penguin’s trick umbrellas.

On my 6th birthday my father said, “It’s time for your birthday party, Steven.” Wearing cape and cowl, I replied, “I’m not Steven, I’m Batman.”

Dad threatened, “Well if Steven is not here, then there won’t be any birthday party.” I swiftly ducked into my room, took off my costume, and transformed into my alter-ego, little Steve Cohen.

Last night, I enjoyed a presentation about Batman, given by Michael Uslan at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in Soho.

The museum currently has a Batman art exhibition on display:

Here is Michael speaking to the group.

He discussed the universal appeal that the character Batman possesses: most prominently, Batman’s super power is his humanity. He wasn’t bitten by a spider, born on another planet, or bombarded with gamma rays on earth or in space. He was a regular person, a boy who saw his parents murdered in front of his eyes at age twelve. He vowed to avenge their deaths by training himself to be the most exceptional human being on the planet. He traveled the world, learning martial arts, detective skills, chemistry and survival techniques.

I always thought of Batman as an intellectual soldier.

The character has survived decades of reinterpretation, both within the United States and abroad. Here are some images of Batman in Japanese manga (aptly termed: Batmanga).

Michael Uslan talked about the many incarnations of Batman, ranging from the dark vampiric persona of the 1940s to the goofy Batman and Scooby Doo cartoons of the 1980s and 90s. The character continues to appeal to people of all ages – there is a Batman that is “just right” for you no matter what your age. Uslan was the motivating force in bringing back the dark, adult version of Batman that appears in modern comics and movies.

Uslan also shared some of his own Batman art collection. I love this original Joker artwork:

And I went “batty” over this Norman Rockwell parody, with the Joker playing the part of Rockwell (who lies dead on the floor):

I was lucky to meet the artist who painted this inventive piece: Mark Romanoski. As readers of this blog know, I am a fan of Norman Rockwell (this post has been one of the most-read on this site). So a combination of Batman and Norman Rockwell was pretty mind-blowing for me.

And finally, it was a delight to receive the following inscription from Michael Uslan in his new book:

“To Steve – Even The Batman could not wield the magic that I witnessed at your show! So, from the magic of comic books to the magic you command, I send you my Best Bat-Wishes — Michael Uslan 2011”

The post The Boys Who Loved Batman appeared first on Chamber Magic.

The cast of characters that he included in the poster is impressive. I’ve received emails from people who own the poster, requesting information about each character. Fortunately Van provided me with a detailed schematic list that describes his inspirations. He went on a treasure hunt through the National Gallery in London to find the perfect cast. Click the links below to see many of the truly gorgeous originals.

First, here’s the outline view:

Here is the key to each numbered figure:

1. Prince of Wales (later King Edward) c. 1875

2. Girl in shadow: Gladys Cooper, music hall star, c. 1910

3. Small black dog in arms of Gladys Cooper

4. Steve Cohen in persona of Wizard with shades of Sherlock Holmes, etc.

5. Judith with the head of Holofernes (latter not shown, behind #6), Gustav Klimt, c. 1900

6. Miss Camille Clifford, said to be the inspiration of “the Gibson Girl,” c. 1906

7. One of the “Gaiety Girls” in Lady Coodle’s party scene from “The Runaway Girl” (Gaeity Theatre, London, 1898-1900)

8. Male head from cartoon by D. Gibson, “Of course you can tell the future from cards” (title)

9. Viscount Milner, “Rigid imperialist” High Commission for South Africa during the Boer War

10. One of the Wyndham sisters, painted by Sargent in 1900

11. Marcel Proust, eccentric author

12. Claude Debussy, composer of “La Mer,” etc.

13. Another Wyndham sister, see #10

14. Joseph Chamberlain, leader of Liberal Unionists, etc., painted by Sargent in 1906 (monocle)

15. Time-traveling Chamber Magic attendee (from a 2001 photo)

16. (With pipe:) Arnold Bennett, novelist

17. Personification of Time, from Bronzino’s “Allegory with Venus and Cupid” (National Gallery, London), c. 1540

18. A shepherd, from Titian “Holy Family with a Shepherd” (National Gallery, London), c. 1510

19. Another time-traveling Chamber Magic attendee, with hair and features borrowed from Ellen Terry (who may have introduced 40-year-old George Bernard Shaw to sex, c. 1905)

20. Dame Rebecca West‘s sister Letitia, feeding blackberries to DRW in 1900

21. The Virgin, from Corregio’s “Ecce Homo” (National Gallery, London), c. 1525

22. Angel, or retired whore M. Magdalene, comforting swooning virgin (see #21)

23. Young lady from “The Amazement of the Gods” by Hans van Aachen

24. Companion of young lady (see #23)

25. Ganymede about to get raped by Jupiter disguised as an eagle, by Damiano Mazza, c. 1575 (National Gallery, London)

26. Jupiter disguised as an eagle, about to rape Ganymede

27. Unnamed Rabbit, “familiar” of Wizard (see #4)

And just for completeness’ sake, I suggested the composition of this illustration be based on one of my favorite book covers from the late 19th century, “The Fireside Magician.” The book was published in 1870, and I have an original in my collection. Here’s the cover image:

And Van Howell’s image for comparison

I have the original hanging on my wall in New York. Here’s a tip for framing – always go for the museum quality glass. It’s a little more expensive, but it eliminates any glare, and you can enjoy the artwork more freely. For years, I’ve been using Paris Framemakers in New York. They do an exceptional job with framing, even delicate and one-of-a-kind pieces.

The post Van Howell illustration appeared first on Chamber Magic.

There was a person standing INSIDE the piano. Right inside the hole.

She was playing the piano and walking around the open floor, rolling the instrument in wide arcs. Her body was bent forward at the waist, at a full ninety degree angle, and her hands were flying up and down at a breakneck pace.

Okay, an artist built this provocative piano. That’s interesting enough. But as we watched the pianist perform, we realized that she must transpose her left and right hands’ roles in each song. In other words, her left hand is playing the higher pitched notes, while her left hand is playing the bass.

It was a pretty amazing performance, and the difficulty level was readily apparent in the piece that she played (Tchaikovsky). Before the applause wore down, she swiftly ducked down out of the piano hole (think Maxwell Smart dropping down his secret telephone booth), and made her exit.

I’ve included several more images that we enjoyed during today’s visit.

The post A walking piano, and other intrigues at MOMA appeared first on Chamber Magic.

The artist, Gino d’Achille, and the photographer, Clay Patrick McBride, did brilliant jobs bringing my idea to life.

Mandrake the Magician

Pencil sketch by Gino d’Achille

Oil painting by Gino d’Achille

Photo by Clay Patrick McBride

If you have any comments about these images, please subscribe and leave them below.

And please, no laughing at me wearing a cape…

The post Progression of an idea appeared first on Chamber Magic.

After his career as a television personality in the U.K., he decided to become a professional painter.

Here is a gallery of some original Chan Canasta paintings. At the time I originally posted this (April 2010), they were for sale through a Belgian art dealer I came across online. The asking price was roughly $9,000 to $10,000 per painting. This dealer seems to have vanished, so I have no further information of how to purchase these paintings any longer.

CLICK AN IMAGE BELOW TO VIEW A LARGER VERSION. Note the artist’s signature at the bottom of each painting. Enjoy the vivid colors!

The post Chan Canasta’s paintings appeared first on Chamber Magic.

Growing up in Westchester County, I joined the Boy Scouts (Troop 174) and have happy boyhood memories of paging through the Boy Scout Handbook. Norman Rockwell’s scouting images were scattered throughout the handbook, and I fell in love with his painting style.

To my knowledge, Norman Rockwell painted two images that included magicians. I have prints of both of these on my wall at home. Would love to locate the originals…

Here is one of Norman Rockwell’s boy scout paintings. I remember this one clearly from the Boy Scout Handbook.

The Norman Rockwell museum is located in Stockbridge, Massachussetts. Several years ago, I did a series of magic shows up in the Berkshires and, on an off day, made a special visit to this museum. Rockwell worked from photographs that he carefully staged to tell a story without words. He positioned his models into just the right poses, took many reference photos, and then painted exactly what he saw in the photographs.

At the moment, the museum is holding an exhibition that displays Rockwell’s original reference photos, side by side with the paintings he created. You can also buy the book: Norman Rockwell – Behind the Camera.

The post Norman Rockwell’s magicians appeared first on Chamber Magic.

This art exhibition by Austrian designer Stefan Sagmeister is very clever and inspirational.  The artist mounted 7200 bananas onto the wall, each at various levels of ripeness. It’s a Lego-like building environment, and the greenest bananas contrasted with the yellowest ones enough to spell out words:

“SELF CONFIDENCE PRODUCES FINE RESULTS”

Here is a close-up view of the bananas:

Over the course of the exhibition (January 31 to February 23, 2008), the exhibit transformed from a fresh display of produce to a smellier and browner one. Interestingly, at the end of 3 weeks, you could still see some of the lettering, due to the different degrees of ripeness at the start.

Sagmeister’s website shows many other examples of his clever approach.

Although I’d much rather be eating bananas than watching them on a wall, I appreciate the inspired thought of Sagmeister to even conceive of using fruit to create typography, and then watching it change over time.

Now excuse me while I go make a smoothie.

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