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Dawn of Modern Magic

The era in which conjuring shed its fairground roots and became a theatrical art. Performers set aside wizard robes and walked on stage in evening dress.

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  🇮🇹 1793–1863 Bartolomeo Bosco Giovanni Bartolomeo Bosco The master of the cups and balls, and the leading sleight-of-hand performer in Europe in the first half of the nineteenth century. Dawn of Modern Magic ManipulationStage Magic

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  🇫🇷 1805–1871 Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin The Father of Modern Magic The father of modern magic — the first to abandon wizard robes and perform in evening dress. Dawn of Modern Magic Stage MagicManipulation

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  🇦🇹 1806–1875 Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser "The Father of Card Magic" The father of card magic, who built an art of cards in small salons while holding another job. Dawn of Modern Magic Card MagicClose-up

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  🇬🇧 1839–1917 John Nevil Maskelyne Master of the Egyptian Hall The showman who gave London a permanent home for magic and laid the foundation of British conjuring. Dawn of Modern Magic Stage MagicIllusion

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  🇺🇸 1839–1911 The Davenport Brothers Ira Erastus Davenport (1839–1911) and William Henry Davenport (1841–1877) The brothers who presented their work as the doing of spirits — exposed by Maskelyne, and an apprenticeship for Kellar. Dawn of Modern Magic Stage MagicIllusion

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  🇺🇸 1844–1896 Alexander Herrmann "Herrmann the Great" "Herrmann the Great" — for a generation, the very image of what a magician looked like. Dawn of Modern Magic Stage MagicIllusion

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  🇺🇸 1849–1922 Harry Kellar "Dean of American Magicians" The dean of American magicians, who made the passing-on of an act a tradition. Dawn of Modern Magic Stage MagicIllusion

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  🇯🇵 1853–1912 Shōkyokusai Tenichi I 松旭斎天一 — Father of Modern Japanese Magic The father of modern Japanese magic, who grafted Western conjuring onto Japan's own tradition. Dawn of Modern Magic Stage MagicIllusion