What would Harry Houdini (March 24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) have done to celebrate his birthday? It’s safe to say that cupcakes and candles may not have been on the top of his list. But we do know from Houdini’s biographer, Kenneth Silverman, that the great magician and escape artist often visited the gravesite of his beloved mother, Cecilia Weiss, at the Jewish Machpelah Cemetery, in Queens, New York on his birthday and hers. 
Houdini adored his mother. He stipulated that he be buried at Machpelah, too, with a pillow of letters from his mother under his head. The novelist E. L. Doctorow has called Houdini “one of the last great mother lovers.” Houdini’s devotional relationship to his mother is one fascinating facet of his famous persona. While Mrs. Weiss is buried in the Houdini family plot, Bess Rahner Houdini (1875-1943), his wife who was Catholic, was not permitted burial there.
March, 2010
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Happy 136th Birthday, Ehrich Weiss (better known as Harry Houdini).
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010Building a Model of Percival Goodman’s Millburn, NJ Synagogue
Monday, March 1st, 2010
In preparation for Modern Art, Sacred Space: Motherwell, Ferber and Gottlieb we hired Pre_Post to develop a scale model of Percival Goodman’s Millburn, NJ synagogue to be included in the exhibition.
“We are creating 1/8″ scale model made from a combination of laser cut and hand finished bass wood. Working with scans of the original drawing set by Percival Goodman, we redrew the building on the computer, using the digital drawings for laser cutting and as the guide for the hand finished work,” explain the principals of Pre_Post.
“Throughout this process, we cross checked the drawings with archival photos and renderings in an effort to get a complete picture of the synagogue and its site. The scale model artworks were produced based on archival photos and the original pieces.”
Pre_Post is also producing to-scale artworks for the model based on archival photos and the original pieces.
Related Links:
Exhibition: Modern Art, Sacred Space: Motherwell, Ferber and Gottlieb (Mar 14 – Aug 1, 2010)
Blog: Conserving Adolph Gottlieb’s Torah Ark Curtain (1/7/2010)
Restoring & Installing Motherwell’s The Wall of the Temple (2/17/2010)
Online Collection works by: Herbert Ferber / Adolph Gottlieb / Robert Motherwell
Flickr: More photos of the model, conservation and exhibition install