The Conjuror Revealed
Rob Womack
enamel paint on masonite
five panels, each 60” x 35"
The opportunity to create an artistic vision for this wonderful 1927 Richmond theater, known at various points in its history as The Mosque, The Landmark, and The Altria, was a highlight of my career.
When the call went out in 1994 for proposals to the Public Art Commission I dropped all else to focus on what it would take to elevate Coloratura to more operatic goals. As always, I started by extensive research of the history of the building, the 1920s desire for exotic, fantastical architecture and the Islamic architectural influences that inspired this jewel-like structure. These studies were useful in creating a tone for the project, but I was struggling for weeks trying to think of an overall theme.
Sometimes I get lucky. I awoke one morning at three am with a vision. What I saw was the theatre itself encased in a crystal ball held aloft by a magician’s wand. The image suggested that something beyond a magician’s grandiose act had just occurred, miniaturizing not only the building into the sphere, but also the audience and the conjuror himself!
The theme of magic seemed so perfect for this enchanted palace. I thought about the many performances I had seen there over the years: the Chinese Magic Circus, La Boheme, The Nutcracker, a lecture by Buckminster Fuller explaining his geodesic dome, the Cab Calloway Orchestra, and Miles Davis (a true wizard if ever there was one).
Other magical imagery soon followed; a levitating opera singer in a gilded cage, mysterious vessels, and a Turkish acrobat somersaulting over a protozoa. All casting shadows into thin air and all freshly revealed by a tossed, floating veil.
I saw The Conjuror Revealed in its position at the entrance to the Grand Tier as the opening act for the patrons entering the auditorium. It was a great honor to have my proposal chosen and to have my work be a part of this great Richmond landmark.
Top photo by Eric Norbom
The Conjuror Revealed, newly installed in the Davenport Special Collections Room at the Richmond Public Library’s Main Branch, 2022.
PHOTO ABOVE RIGHT: The Conjuror Revealed in situ at the Landmark Theater, where it was on display until 2012.
Postscript: The Conjuror Revealed has not been seen at its original site since the Landmark Theater closed in 2012 for a $63 million renovation. Among the projects included in that price was the construction of a cash bar on the site of the mural. The panels were removed, packed in a crate, and taken to storage in the theater’s basement.
Originally commissioned through the City of Richmond’s Percent for Art program in 1994 when the Mosque Theater underwent its first major renovation in decades, the mural shone on the Grand Tier level. A generation of Richmonders grew up seeing it there, part of the glamor and excitement of going to the theater.
In 2018 The Conjuror Revealed was retrieved from storage on the occasion of Coloratura’s 35-year retrospective at the Branch Museum of Architecture and Design. By popular demand, the piece remained on exhibit at The Branch Museum after the retrospective until 2022 when a new permanent location was found.
In 2022 The Conjuror Revealed was relocated to Richmond Public Library’s Main Branch in the Davenport Special Collections Room. The mural can be viewed by appointment by calling the reference desk at 804 646 7223.