Jan 28, 2021 - Sale 2556

Sale 2556 - Lot 54

Price Realized: $ 3,000
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
MAHLON BLAINE (1894-1969)
"Ratna Manggali - daughter of Rangda and Bodhisattva." Mixed media with gouache, glaze, and watercolor on board. Inscribed, signed, and dated "For Dunninger / Mahlon Blaine 1938" in lower right corner. Additionally signed and titled by Blaine on verso. 505x400 mm; 20x15 3/4 inches. Framed.

Inscribed and signed by Blaine to his friend and patron, the famous magician and mentalist, Joseph Dunninger. Both Blaine and Dunninger were cult figures in the circles of magic, mystery, science fiction and fantasy, most prominently in New York City. Blaine illustrated several of Dunninger's books and painted several commissioned works for him. "The Amazing Dunninger" performed for Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Edison, and appeared on radio and television, even inspiring Soupy Sales and Johnny Carson to base humorous characters on him.