Houdini in St Louis

 

This coming week, The International Brotherhood of Magicians will hold their annual convention in St. Louis. This is their 97th Convention. This one, unlike the SAM Convention, is not dedicated to Houdini. The Society of American Magicians Convention was in Appleton Wisconsin, Houdini's home town. 

But, even though, the IBM is skipping Houdini, there is a huge connection to Houdini and St Louis. In January of 1908 Houdini debuted his Galvanized Iron Can  Filled With Water, what we commonly know as The Milk Can. This would go on to be one of Houdini's signature stunts. He often used as a challenge, filling with various liquids other than water. I will bet that in the new book Strenuous Career, by David Haversat and Bruce Averbook, there is a challenge with the Milk Can. 

The performance took place at the Columbia Theater downtown. The theater is no longer there. However, the location is One City Center. An office building and retail shops now fill the location of the ole Columbia. 

By the way, this photo below is a fairly well known image of Houdini in his Milk Can. This was part of a set of photos. Two are public, but there are several that have been unseen....that is until now. Charles Greene's new book, Exposing Houdini, has a chapter with this lost images and even tells where the photo session took place!

Welcome To the Houdini 100 Celebration

 

This year marks the 100th Anniversary of the Death of Harry Houdini. All year long there will be celebrations acoss the Globe. In his hometown of Appleton Wisconsin there will be special performances throughout the year. The Society of American Magicians is holding their Annual Convention there this summer. 

For me, I have several things in store. And now to reveal part 1. The Houdini Art of 2026. Every month, I will offer prints of my Houdini paintings. These will be Limited Edition Prints on premium quality high art paper. I offered the first one in December and now the second is being offered. Each month I will offer a new print. The first two prints are limited to a total of 25 each. Several of my original Houdini paintings are in private collections, so those will not be included. Instead, I will be painting brand new creations this year as well as offering some from my collection. All the offerings this year will be limited edition prints.

IF you've seen my work in the past you know I paint in many different styles. I already have several Houdini caricature paintings, one of which can be seen above. There are some highly colorized paintings, I hope to capture Houdini in other styles like Cubism, Surrealism, Impressionism and more. But for now expect to see some very interesting and unique pieces throughout the year. 

OH , how can you purchase them? Easy, visit. Carnegie-Magic.myshopify.com  OR, I will post the links below for the first two paintings. By the way, there are 8 other magic related prints available as well. 

I think of this one as Houdini in the church window. That was my inspiration for the artwork. No religious connotation inferred. I just like the stained glass images of people and wondered what it would look like if Houdini were capture that way. It is one of my favorites and one of my most requested pieces. Now offered in limited edition prints.

 https://carnegie-magic.myshopify.com/products/houdini-magic-art-print-limited-edition-by-dean-carnegie?variant=51506864685368

Houdini in Profile is one in a series of caricatures done in profile. There are others, Blackstone, Chung Ling Soo, and more. All done in this same sort of style and similar background. With the Houdini, he has a chain and lock hanging from his neck. Each of the caricatures have some additional item that connects to them.  Now offered for the first time in limited edition prints. 

 https://carnegie-magic.myshopify.com/products/houdini-profile-caricature-fine-art-magic-print-by-dean-carnegie?variant=51576496488760