The Jewish Museum Presents Conjuring Houdini in the Popular Imagination

In conjunction with its new exhibition, Houdini: Art and Magic, The Jewish Museum is presenting two related programs. Conjuring Houdini in the Popular Imagination, a panel discussion featuring magicians George Schindler and Dorothy Dietrich and Houdini biographer Kenneth Silverman will take place on November 11. A conversation with distinguished author E. L. Doctorow and historian Alan Brinkley on Doctorow's interpretations of Harry Houdini will be offered on November 18.
For further information regarding programs at The Jewish Museum, the public may call 212.423.3337. Tickets for lectures, film screenings and concerts at The Jewish Museum can now be purchased online at the Museum's Web site, www.thejewishmuseum.org/ calendar.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

Thursday, November 11
6:30 pm
Panel Discussion
CONJURING HOUDINI IN THE PUBLIC IMAGINATION
The Saul and Harriet M. Rothkopf Media Program
More than 80 years after his death, escape artist extraordinaire Harry Houdini continues to fascinate and inspire. "Dean of American Magicians" George Schindler and "The First Lady of Magic" Dorothy Dietrich join Houdini biographer Kenneth Silverman to discuss why the legendary magician occupies such a prominent place in American popular culture. The evening will include archival footage of classic Houdini escapes and a special live recreation of his signature straitjacket escape.

George Schindler is a member of the Society of American Magicians' Hall of Fame, starred as "Chandu the Great" in Woody Allen's New York Stories (1989), and is the author of several books. Dorothy Dietrich has been called "the female Houdini" and is one of the first women to achieve fame as a magician. Kenneth Silverman's books include Houdini!!!; Begin Again: A Biography of John Cage, A Cultural History of the American Revolution; The Life and Times of Cotton Mather (winner of the 1984 Pulitzer Prize for Biography); Edgar A. Poe: Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance; and Lightning Man: The Accursed Life of Samuel F. B. Morse.

Tickets: $15 general public; $12 students/over 65; $10 Jewish Museum members

Thursday, November 18
6:30 pm
Conversation
INSPIRED BY HOUDINI: E. L. Doctorow
The Salo W. Baron Lecture
Distinguished author E.L. Doctorow discusses his interpretions of Harry Houdini in his National Book Critics Circle Award winning novel, Ragtime, with noted historian Alan Brinkley.

E.L. Doctorow's novels include The Book of Daniel, a National Book Award nominee in 1972; World's Fair, winner of the 1986 National Book Award; Billy Bathgate, winner of the PEN/Faulkner prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and the William Dean Howells medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1990; and The March, which received the 2006 PEN/Faulkner Award, the 2006 National Book Critics Circle Award and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist. He holds the Lewis and Loretta Glucksman Chair in English and American Letters at New York University. Alan Brinkley is the Allan Nevins Professor of History and former Provost at Columbia University. He is the author of Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and the Great Depression, which won the 1983 National Book Award; The End of Reform: New Deal Liberalism in Recession and War; Liberalism and its Discontents; Franklin Delano Roosevelt; and The Publisher: Henry Luce and His American Century.

Tickets: $15 general public; $12 students/over 65; $10 Jewish Museum members

Harry Houdini (1874-1926), the renowned magician and escape artist, was one of the 20th century's most famous performers. His gripping theatrical presentations and heart-stopping outdoor spectacles attracted unprecedented crowds, and his talent for self-promotion and provocation captured headlines on both sides of the Atlantic. The Jewish Museum is presenting the first major art museum exhibition to examine Houdini's life, legend, and enduring cultural influence from October 29, 2010 through March 27, 2011. Through 163 objects, exhibition visitors will be able to explore the career and legacy of the celebrated entertainer while considering his lasting impact on contemporary art and culture. Included are 26 recent works of art in a variety of media by such artists as Matthew Barney, Jane Hammond, Vik Muniz, and Raymond Pettibon; historic photographs; dramatic Art Nouveau-era posters and broadsides; theater ephemera; and archival and silent films that illuminate Houdini's role as a world-famous celebrity who commanded a mass audience in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Magic apparatus - rarely exhibited together - handcuffs, shackles, straitjacket, a milk can and a packing trunk will be showcased in the context of their original presentation. A recreation of the famous Water Torture Cell (much of the original was destroyed in a fire in 1995) will also be on view. Two of Houdini's private diaries, never before shown in a public exhibition, will be displayed. Visitors will learn about his evolution from a fledging circus performer in the 1890s, to a stage magician at the turn-of-the 20th century, to a daring escape artist in the early 1900s. The exhibition will not reveal the "how-to" secrets of Houdini's magic performances. Rather, it will describe his audacious innovation in endowing common items with the aura of magic.
An infrared assistive listening system for the hearing impaired is available for programs in the Museum's S. H. and Helen R. Scheuer Auditorium.
The Saul and Harriet M. Rothkopf Media Program is endowed by the Saul and Harriet M. Rothkopf Family Foundation.
The Salo W. Baron Lecture is endowed by the Trustees of the Salo W. and Jeannette M. Baron Foundation.
Public Programs at The Jewish Museum are supported, in part, by public funds from by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Major annual support is provided by the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency. The stage lighting has been funded by the Office of Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer. The audio-visual system has been funded by New York State Assembly Member Jonathan Bing.

About The Jewish Museum

Widely admired for its exhibitions and educational programs that inspire people of all backgrounds, The Jewish Museum is the preeminent United States institution exploring the intersection of 4,000 years of art and Jewish culture. The Jewish Museum was established in 1904, when Judge Mayer Sulzberger donated 26 ceremonial art objects to The Jewish Theological Seminary of America as the core of a museum collection. Today, the Museum maintains an important collection of 26,000 objects-paintings, sculpture, works on paper, photographs, archaeological artifacts, ceremonial objects, and broadcast media.

General Information

Museum hours are Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, 11am to 5:45pm; Thursday, 11am to 8pm; and Friday, 11am to 4pm. Museum admission is $12.00 for adults, $10.00 for senior citizens, $7.50 for students, free for children under 12 and Jewish Museum members. Admission is free on Saturdays. For general information on The Jewish Museum, the public may visit the Museum's website at http://www.thejewishmuseum.org or call 212.423.3200. The Jewish Museum is located at 1109 Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street, Manhattan.