Chicago Art Auction, Paschke, Origin, 1995 (Courtesy of Rago/Wright/Toomey & Co.)

Toomey & Co. Auctioneers will devote an entire sale to Chicago artwork from the past 100+ years. The auction is titled “Elevated: Art Via Chicago.” 

This rare poster featuring Harry Houdini just conjured a world sales record. (Courtesy of Potter & Potter Auctions, Chicago)

The poster features an image of Harry Houdini performing his famous Milk Can Escape, in which the performer was locked into a galvanized iron can filled with water and secured by locks. The image is rich with showmanship and hyperbole, warning: “Failure Means a Drowning Death.”

Gabe Fajuri of Potter & Potter Auctions looks over a collection of posters from magician Ricky Jay set to be auctioned off. (Marc Vitali / WTTW News)

A Chicago auction house is offering an astonishing archive of vaudeville posters, sideshow ephemera, and what is called magicana. All of it was collected by magician Ricky Jay, who died in 2018 at age 72.

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The 100-year-old bakery closed at the end of April. Fans looking to own a piece of Chicago history can bid on the sign at auction June 3, with proceeds earmarked for charity.

Jesse Jackson Jr.'s stash could become your treasure. Thirtheen luxury items onced owned by the former congressman are going up for auction online. 

It is believed to be the world’s most valuable book but you may never have heard of it. And now it’s up for auction with an estimated sale price of between $15-$30 million. We tell you what the extremely rare and pricey tome is when we get a firsthand look at it in our studio on Tuesday.

A rare Norman Rockwell painting is up for auction here this weekend, and it could set a Chicago record. Eddie Arruza has the story.