(18th/19th century)

Portrait of the Conjurer, Jean Joseph Pinetti Willedale de Merci, inscribed at bottom with his various self affixed labels, in a faux General's uniform and  holding his book*; oil on canvas, 46 x 31-1/2 in.; French style wood and composition frame, labels verso "M.Voruz de Vaux/Interior Architect/635 Park Avenue/New York", 58-1/2 x 35-3/8 x 1-3/4 in.

Provenance: M. Voruz de Vaux, New York; Property from a Historic South Carolina Plantation

Note: "Though without fine or regular features, his physiognomy possessed much distinction; while his manners were excellent. It is probable, however, that the latter were acquired rather than innate; for extremely bad taste is betrayed by his frequently wearing on the stage the uniform of a general, decorated with numerous orders. This is an oddity with a fatal suggestion of charlatanism. He was given to vaunting, and was in no wise careful to adhere to the truth in com-mu-ni-ca-tions regarding his magical art."

Jean-Joseph Pinetti becamje both famous and rich when he changed the perception of magic by transferinhg it away from the street and created a new form of performance magic. It became popular amongst the upper classes and nobility across Europe. He created both his identity and supported the illusion with his elaborate costuming. The book* that he holds was penned by himself, which, in effect, vaguely described one magic trick. A later book by Pinetti would describe his various new tricks such as "the self-playing organ, artificial snakes and birds, chess-playing automatons, ascending balloons in human shape, perpetual motion, learned animals, automatic flute playing, etc." His tireless self promotion and theatrics would later inspire magicians like Harry Houdini during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

No story entertains like the one that details the time he was to perform in Berlin. Much like everything else, his arrival was via much fanfare involving his coach drawn by four white horses and his elaborate “military” costume. Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia, was carried about in a much more humble coach pulled by two horses and passed by this spectacle when he saw “his guard salute a man he never saw before. After some inquiry, he was told that it was magician Professor Pinetti. When Frederick the Great saw this he was so angry he ordered Pinetti to leave Berlin within twenty four hours. He said that Berlin was not large enough for two reigning monarchs; the King of Prussia and the King of Conjurers.”

*<em>Amusements in physics, and various entertaining experiments, invented and executed at Paris and the various courts of Europe by the Chevalier M. Jean-Joseph Pinetti Willedale de Merci, Knight of the German Order of Merit of St. Philip, professor of mathematics and natural philosophy, pensioned by the Court of Prussia, patronized by all the Royal Family of France, aggregate of the Royal Academy of Sciences and Belle-Lettres of Bordeaux, etc.</em>

References: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/57077/57077-h/57077-h.htm#p023 https://www.ruseletter.com/p/legends-of-legerdemain-1

lined, restretched on old stretcher, crackle, surface dirt, retouch; frame with abrasions and repairs