Vintage Magic Posters & Magician Prints

The great age of stage magic

Before television made everyone famous, the great stage magicians had to work rather harder for their publicity. Houdini promised impossible escapes. Thurston made women float. Carter challenged the Devil. And the artists commissioned to advertise their shows made sure nobody could walk past without looking.

This collection of vintage magician posters and magic show prints brings together Houdini, Carter the Great, Kellar, Thurston, Alexander and George. There are levitating ladies, mind readers, mischievous demons and enough theatrical nerve to fill the stalls.

The lettering is lavish. The colours are gloriously overconfident. Even the Devil seems rather pleased to be involved.

These are posters from an age when a magician didn't simply announce a performance. He promised to turn the laws of nature into a minor inconvenience.

And then there's George. Grover George commissioned some of the most beautiful magic posters of the 1920s for a comeback that never quite happened. The posters survived. The dream didn't. His extraordinary story is told in George the Supreme Master of Magic: The Posters for a Tour That Never Happened.

The poster was part of the performance

Before anyone bought a ticket, the magician had a promise to make. A woman would float. A mind would be read. A seemingly impossible escape would take place before your eyes. The poster had to make the claim feel extraordinary enough to fill a theatre, while giving the performer a personality worth remembering.

That is why vintage magic show posters are such good company on a wall. Portraits share the paper with devils, spirits, crystal balls and elaborate scenes of illusion. The picture gives you spectacle; the lettering supplies the magnificent confidence. A restrained little announcement was rarely going to do the job.

Houdini, Carter, Kellar and the art of the impossible

Houdini’s Water Torture Cell poster puts a specific escape at the centre of the attraction. Carter the Great’s Beats the Devil gives a very different performance of danger and bravado. Kellar’s portraits and devil imagery make the relationship between the magician and the supernatural part of the entertainment.

Alexander’s The Man Who Knows and Crystal Seer designs offer a more knowing invitation, with mentalism and personality carrying the promise. Thurston brings levitation, spirits and elaborate mysteries into the selection; Dante, Chung Ling Soo and Servais Le Roy add more names and theatrical identities to explore. You can follow a favourite magician, a particular illusion or simply the image that has the most nerve.

Choose your sort of mischief

For one print, begin with the image you can recognise across the room: a strong portrait, a dramatic encounter or George’s owl and moon. The smaller details in an illusion scene are easier to read above a desk or beside a reading chair. Compare the lettering at the size you have in mind, especially if the small promises are part of the pleasure.

If you are choosing two, try a shared colour or a conversation between the figures. A portrait and a full theatrical scene give you variety without losing the subject. A landscape design can work well above furniture or beside a taller portrait; measure the available space and compare the actual image proportions before deciding.

The stories behind the spectacle

For one performer’s extraordinary promotional world, read George, the Supreme Master of Magic. For cabaret, silent cinema and jazz, continue to Cinema, Theatre & Music. The collection is a place to find a print; the stories are there when curiosity gets the better of you.