Trompe L'oeil:
Tricking the Eye
Title: Kramsfåglar / Small for the Table Birds, 1894
Artist: Theodor Lundh (Swedish 1812-1896)
Medium: olja på duk / Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 40 x 30
Photographer: Erik Cornelius / Nationalmuseum
Permanent Collection:
Image Courtesy: National Museum, Stockholm Sweden
We've heard the expression; seen the works but what does trompe l'oeil mean?
Deluded Eye: Five Centuries of Deception
National Museum
Stockholm, Sweden
September 25, 2008 - January 11, 2009
Trompe l'oeil means to trick the eye. It refers to an art technique in which two-dimensional objects, such
as a painting, appear to be three-dimensional.
The technique is often used in murals; some dating back to Greek and Roman times. It is found in the ruined
city of Pompeii; a volcano destroyed much of the city, but some artwork and murals survived and in them are
images of Trompe l'oeil works.
Italian painters such as Andrea Mantegna excelled
at creating illusionistic ceiling frescos or paintings that used perspective and foreshortening techniques to suggest an impression
of greater space to those who looked up to the works.
It is called di sotto in sù and is a form of trompe l'oeil.
Some artists were known for their trompe l'oeil art such as Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts,
Cornelis Bisschop and René Magritte.
Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts
Title: Borgerskapets insignier / Trompe l´œil Även kallad Den Rålambska brevväggen, 1673
Artist: Cornelis Gijsbrechts (Flemish active 1659-1675)
Medium: Oil on Canvas / Olja på duk
Dimensions: 158 x 205
Photographer: Erik Cornelius / Nationalmuseum
Riddarhuset, Rålambska depositionen, Stockholm
Image Courtesy: National Museum, Stockholm Sweden
Flemish artist Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts (or Gysbrechts) worked with still life
and Trompe l´oeil genres. He specialized in the latter category. Gysbrechts was a baroque artist
during the Golden Age of Dutch Art.
Cornelis Bisschop
Title: Självporträtt (Self-Portrait), 1668
Artist: Cornelis Bisschop (Dutch 1630-1674)
Medium: Oil on Panel / Olja på duk på panel
Dimensions: 117 x 98.6
Photograph: © Dordrechts Museum
Permanent Collection: DM/S/887/308 / Dordrecht, Dordrechts Museum
Image Courtesy: National Museum, Stockholm Sweden
Heavily influenced by Nicolaes Maes, Cornelis Bisschop served an apprenticeship with Ferdinand Bol; given
both men came from the same town, Dordrecht.
Later in life, Bisschop was invited to be the official Royal painter to Christian V, the King of Denmark.
Like Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts, Bisschop is considered a Baroque artist dating the from the Dutch
Golden Age. Two of Bisschop's twelve children followed in his footsteps becoming artists: his sons
Jacobus and Abraham.
René Magritte
Title: Les Promenades d´Euclide (Promenades of Euclid), 1955
Artist: René Magritte (Belgian 1898-1967)
Medium: Oil on Canvas (Olja på duk)
Dimensions: 162.9 x 129.9
Photograph: © The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The William Hood Dunwoody Fund
Permanent Collection: The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The William Hood Dunwoody Fund
Image Courtesy: National Museum, Stockholm Sweden
Belgian surrealist René Magritte, liked to create works of paintings within paintings. His images
were often considered witty. He once said of his works, "my painting is visible images which conceal nothing;
they evoke mystery."
Sweden's National Museum in Stockholm has organized an exhibition look at Trompe L'oeil artworks.
Deluded Eye: Five Centuries of Deception runs through January 11 of next year.
Deluded Eye: Five Centuries of Deception
National Museum Sweden:
September 25, 2008 - January 11, 2009
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