I am now almost that age. I look over in my office at the mahogany and glass cabinet that John Mulholland (1898-1970) built to hold his rarest of books. Some of those books still rest on those shelves on Manhattan island, now having been here since 1880. There are signatures with dates in the books Mulholland acquired from his teacher John Sargent (1852- 1920).
The author with Brancusi’s Bird in Space (1929), Museum of Modern Art, New York City, September 2024, Photograph by David Johndrow.
My point? In 2021, a very talented woman knife thrower sat across from me in my small office as we discussed future work for her live and on TV. A natural beauty that had a work ethic second to none. She was on time, looked great, and told me she could barely contain herself. I asked why. “Because I can feel the books, the posters, the costumes flying above my head, and we are going forward with all of this. I can barely breathe.” It was not an exaggeration.
She was encountering — in my mind only — the beauty of the ages surrounding her (Houdini’s shirt, a vest James Stewart wore playing Wyatt Earp in a John Ford western). The quest by at least four men: John William Sargent, John Mulholland, Milbourne Christopher and myself to protect, preserve, and advance the knowledge in what the Cabinet of Magical Curiosities holds! To me, that is beauty. Because, roughly 50 years ago I saw similar displays at 93rd Street and Central Park West at Christopher’s spacious apartment.
John Mulholland built cabinet, 1940
The massive magic collector Ken Klosterman was a good friend. I visited his Salon De Magie in Loveland OH and was told my four days there “might” be enough time to see his vast holdings on two properties, maybe 50 miles apart. I was delivering a rare illusion used on the Broadway stage by Milbourne Christopher. I’d used it a few times, but it was not practical for my modern purposes. Ken repeatedly told me he used his wealth to do what I am doing with just one piece of handcrafted furniture by the great Mulholland. “We are temporary curators of an art’s history” Ken sagely stated. We protect beauty.
Beauty is purpose. Sure, as Chung Ling Soo said, “please the eye” make your magic attractive; whatever that means to you.
More importantly, is what you do beautiful and attractive to someone who will pay you to do it? Milbourne Christopher (1914-1984). Portrait by Ben Robinson, New York City. 1979.
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AUGUST | 2025