Thursday, February 4, 2016

Harry Kellar Poster


Harry Kellar is definitely one of my favorite magicians. He was one of the most beloved magicians of his time, though I think the Maskelynes' might disagree. His posters are highly sought after and they are always gorgeous. I honestly, never imagined I'd own a Kellar poster, but the photo above is MY Kellar poster!

This is a three sheet Strobridge Lithograph poster (84x40). I'm uncertain of the true date of the poster however. I have seen it listed online and in books as 1900 and 1903. And yet there is another poster, very similar to this one, where he is clearly younger, and that poster has dates of 1900 and 1907. I think that this poster to the left is likely 1907 as it looks like Kellar much later in his career.

It's kind of funny, most of the Kellar posters are filled with devils and imps and I get one of the few that doesn't include that iconic imagery, lol. But I've decided to include the imps just the same. How you ask?  I have been quietly collecting little devil figurines which I'll put on display right next to this enormous poster. I've got to get it framed and I can only imagine what that will cost. But it's going to look so incredible.

I don't have a huge poster collection, but I do have a few. I have a Fu Manchu, a Levante poster, one or two Virgil posters, a Kassner poster, two KIO posters from Russia, two George posters, and a few others that I can't think of off the top of my head. I also have a ton of modern day posters, all but 2 of the Le Grand David posters, Doug Henning posters, Copperfield and the like. But it's the lithos that are the most desirable. This Kellar is just breathtaking in real life!

UPDATE: Just an interesting aside, today at the Potter & Potter Auction, a signed photo of Harry Kellar's wife sold for $4800 and a Kellar In the Woods Poster sold for $13,000. AND there are a bunch of Kellar Posters among the Nielsen Collection which gets auctioned off in June.

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