Hokum That Stands the Test of Time (Exhibition/LA)
LOS ANGELES — Before I arrived here, a flier was in my mailbox, an advertisement for “China China — Le Grand Cirque.” It described “an unprecedented dimension of body control, acrobatic precision and unbelievable capability.”
Obviously they didn’t know about Ricky Jay. For years Mr. Jay, the sleight-of-hand artist and archivist of all sorts of eccentric entertainments, has been collecting historic equivalents of the circus broadside, some dating back to Shakespeare’s day.
These are handbills mostly, not posters: single sheets, usually printed on a letter press with lots of hyperbolic language, not much color and only sometimes a crude illustration, rarely fine ones. They trumpet horses that jump through hoops, armless dulcimer players, German strongwomen who lift anvils with their hair, contortionists, fire eaters, magicians and pig-faced ladies.
“Extraordinary Exhibitions,” here at the Hammer Museum (it’s only on until Nov. 25, so consider yourself forewarned), presents part of his collection, about 80 marvelous works. I got together with Mr. Jay the other day. He was eager to show me some prints related to Mathew Buchinger, “The Little Man of Nuremberg,” who grew to 29 inches, married four times, fathered 14 children before he died, in his mid-60s, in 1739, and became famous for his exhibitions of conjuring, swordplay, dancing, and the playing of various musical instruments. Buchinger had no arms or legs....
Read entire article at NYT
Obviously they didn’t know about Ricky Jay. For years Mr. Jay, the sleight-of-hand artist and archivist of all sorts of eccentric entertainments, has been collecting historic equivalents of the circus broadside, some dating back to Shakespeare’s day.
These are handbills mostly, not posters: single sheets, usually printed on a letter press with lots of hyperbolic language, not much color and only sometimes a crude illustration, rarely fine ones. They trumpet horses that jump through hoops, armless dulcimer players, German strongwomen who lift anvils with their hair, contortionists, fire eaters, magicians and pig-faced ladies.
“Extraordinary Exhibitions,” here at the Hammer Museum (it’s only on until Nov. 25, so consider yourself forewarned), presents part of his collection, about 80 marvelous works. I got together with Mr. Jay the other day. He was eager to show me some prints related to Mathew Buchinger, “The Little Man of Nuremberg,” who grew to 29 inches, married four times, fathered 14 children before he died, in his mid-60s, in 1739, and became famous for his exhibitions of conjuring, swordplay, dancing, and the playing of various musical instruments. Buchinger had no arms or legs....