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Artist's Dream
Artist's Dream is a stage illusion in which a woman steps out of a picture that was painted by the magician.
It was created by David Devant, based on his first stage illusion called "Vice Versa" in which a man is magically turned into a woman. J.N. Maskelyne asked Devant to work out an illusion for a production at the Egyptian Hall and he came up with the Artist's Dream.[1] Maskelyne chose to present it as a dramatic sketch and it was scripted by Mel. B. Spurr. It premiered on September 4, 1893 with Devant as the artist and his wife, Miss Marion Melville, as the dream-picture.
Alexander Herrmann would develop his own version and performed it in 1895 in the United States.
After Devant's death, the illusion was purchased and revived in a modified form by Cecil Lyle.[2]
The Thayer Magic Company produced a version in the 1940s.
