A terrestrial globe sits at the lower right, and out of it streams a procession: red devils, a turbaned fakir, a cowboy, a figure in a war bonnet, veiled women.
The performer is Harry August Jansen, the Danish-born American magician who worked as Dante. Howard Thurston hired him in 1922 and gave him the stage name. Dante later toured the world with his own troupe of 25 to 40 performers. This lithograph dates to around 1930, a decade before his Broadway production of Sim Sala Bim in 1940.
It carries the imprint of Adolph Friedländer's lithographic works in Hamburg ("Lith. Adolph Friedländer, Hamburg 4") with printer's number 8590.
On the poster
A magician in black evening dress stands at lower right, both hands raised in a conjuring gesture over the globe. Red bats wheel against an olive-green sky, and an Art Deco skyline of skyscrapers rises at upper right. The headline "DANTE" is brushed in bold white. Below it, in amber italic script: "and his own BIG American company / Presenting the Worlds greatest". Along the foot, in solid scarlet capitals: "MYSTERY SPECTACLE".
About this print
A digitally restored reproduction, printed on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Fine Art paper with pigment inks.
