This original oil on canvas painting, used as the cover for the January 1955 pulp digest, Imaginative Tales #3, shows a Vaudeville era magician and his pin-up girl assistant working a crowd and casting spells and presumably making things disappear. This was created to illustrate the interior story by Robert Bloch, titled Black Magic Holiday, the cover slug reads… Life A Bit Dull? Then Have Yourself A Ball! When Magicians Hold A Convention It’s A – Black Magic Holiday”. The illustration shows a sparkling pin-up “Mac Girl”, in erotic risque attire lost in the moment. The artist loved working for The Greenleaf Publishing Company, and was a frequent illustrator for Imagination-Stories of Science Fiction, and their sister title, Imaginative Tales. McCauley always tried to outdo himself with the high-spirited works he created for this publishing house, which he nicknamed “Madge”, we can see his immense commercial talent and artistic whimsy on display in this sparkling cover rendering.

In all regards just a defining example, handsomely framed in a Larson-Juhl gallery frame and sold with a complete edition of the Imaginative tales #3 – January, 1955.