(Leipzig, Nate) | “A master exponent of pure magic technique"

(Leipzig, Nate)

Untitled portrait. [N.d., but circa 1930]

Oil on canvas (680 x 475 mm). Half-length portrait, signed at upper left; minor restoration. Framed; not examined out of frame. 

“A master exponent of pure magic technique" (Jay)

According to Jay, Leipzig was "the greatest vaudeville sleight-of-hand-performer of his time," and "was a master exponent of pure magic technique" (LP&FW 96). 

Born in Stockholm, Sweden, but raised in Detroit, Leipzig was a vaudeville magician, who was eventually elected president of the Society of American Magicians (previous presidents include Howard Thurston and Harry Houdini). He is particularly remembered for his sleight-of-hand innovations. Leipzig is credited with inventing the "Side Steal" (or, "Side Slip"), a method for secretly removing a playing card from the middle of a deck.

REFERENCE:

Exemplars, p. 36; LP&FW, p. 96 

PROVENANCE:

Exhibited: Skirball Museum, New York, “Masters of Illusion,” May 2011