“Wordplay: Matthias Buchinger's Drawings from the Collection of Ricky Jay”

Art history is full of colorful characters, but even so, magician and artist Matthias Buchinger (1674-1740) was a standout. He was born in Germany without hands or lower legs, but that didn’t stop him from becoming famous as a performer welcomed in the courts of Europe. His skills as a prestidigitator and engraver were rivaled by his prowess in the bedroom: He was rumored to have fathered children by something like 70 different women. This reputation managed to outlive his life in the form of a euphemism in England for the vagina: "Buckinger's boot,” which used the Anglicized version of Buchinger's name. Measuring a mere 29 inches in height, Buchinger managed to have an outsized career, recalled here in this exhibition of drawings amassed by the noted American illusionist, Ricky Jay.