The I.B.M. Blog & Articles

The International Brotherhood of Magicians

03 Dec

Painting of Blackstone's Magic Barn to Be Sold at Auction

Category: News   Posted by: I.B.M. Website Editor

AN ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING OF HARRY BLACKSTONE, SR.'s magic barn in Colon, Michigan, commissioned for the cover of the December 2013 issue of THE LINKING RING, will be sold at auction this month with proceeds to benefit the Magicians' Support Fund.

The auction will close on eBay on December 30. (Locate the auction under "Blackstone's Magic Barn: Oil on Canvas.") 

From 1926 until 1950, the Blackstone show was built, rehearsed, repaired, and readied for each new season in a red barn on Blackstone Island, the home of the great magician. 

The painting that appears on the front cover of the December 2013 issue of The Linking Ring is based on a photograph from the Jim Rawlins collection, plus the recollections of Adele Friel Rhindress, who wrote the feature story about this unique structure. The artist, Austin Conrad Smith, met Adele in the summer of 2011, more than six decades after her last summer of living and working on the Blackstone property. Austin, the son of The Linking Ring’s Executive Editor, is a homeschooled high school senior who began painting in acrylics and watercolor at age fourteen. At fifteen, he switched to oil as his preferred medium. Recently, he held his first art exhibit at a Renaissance fair in central Florida. 

The original oil painting (shown above) on stretched canvas measures 18" x 24". It will be sold to the highest bidder with all proceeds donated to the Magicians’ Support Fund (see below for more information).

MAGICIANS’ SUPPORT FUND

The Magicians’ Support Fund was started by several members of the I.B.M. in response to needs by magicians affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Since its founding eight years ago, the Fund has assisted magicians suffering from hardships ranging from medical expenses to natural disasters. For more information – and to make donations – contact the Fund's treasurer, Michael Stratman, at mikestrat4@aol.com.


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