Illusions ─ The Art of Magic

During the Golden Age of Magic—the 1880s to the 1940s—magicians and prestidigitators fought a veritable advertising war. In the United States, Canada, and Europe, city walls were plastered with posters offering tantalizing previews of magician’s most spectacular tricks. Poster designers and printers were inspired by all variety of phantasmagoric imagery: devils and demons, skeletons and skulls, cards and rabbits, alluring assistants and symbols of exoticism. Here, 250 breathtaking posters, mostly dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, retrace the social history of this still-active phenomenon. These magnificent, large-format chromolithographs immortalize the magicians and the acts that marked the world of modern magic.

Seven authors recognized as experts in their respective fields introduce this fabulous array of color and imagery. Published to accompany an exhibition at the McCord Museum in Montreal, which was gifted in 2015 with one of the largest collections of magic posters and documents in the world, the Allan Slaight Collection, this book will delight graphic designers, illustrators, and magic enthusiasts alike.

Christian Vachon is curator of paintings, prints and drawings at the McCord Museum, Montreal.
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Suzanne Sauvage is president of the McCord Museum, Montreal.