A skull-and-crossbones sits on top of the stage arch, and nobody in the picture seems to mind. The Standard Printing Company of St. Paul, Minnesota lithographed the poster around 1911. It was made for Charles A. Nicol, the American illusionist who performed as Von Arx. Nicol was the brother of The Great Nicola.
Plate number 470 appears in the lower-right printer's slug.
On the poster
A mustachioed illusionist in white-tie evening dress gestures toward a stage arch with a skull-and-crossbones pediment, plum curtains parted behind him. At left a woman in a stars-and-stripes dress, with a blue star-spangled bodice and a red-and-white striped skirt, stands at an open travelling trunk. A grinning scarlet devil in a ruffled collar occupies the right of the arch. Amber light fills the opening.
On the green floor, interlocking blue medallions spell V-O-N-A-R-X in gold, all against a deep midnight-blue ground.
About this print
A digitally restored reproduction, printed on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Fine Art paper with pigment inks.
