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Bill Braun - Trompe l' Oeil
Bill Braun - "A Deceptive Practice" HELD OVER
Bill Braun
Held Over - August 9, 2009
6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

      
Trompe-l'Oeil (Fr. 'deceives the eye') A type of painting, usually STILL-LIFE, which by means of various ILLUSIONIST devices persuades the spectator that he is looking at the actual objects represented. Successful Trompe l'Oeil occupies a very shallow space behind the PICTURE-PLANE, or actually seems to project beyond the picture surface


Trompe-l'Oeil literal translation and intent are the same" "to deceive the eye". Trompe- l'Oeil historical citation starts with Pliny the Elder's story of the painting contest between Zeuxis and Parrhasius in Athens, 5th century B.C. and classical examples had been discovered in the ruins of Pompeii.

Parrhasius, it is recorded, entered into a competition with Zeuxis, who produced a picture of grapes so successfully represented that birds flew up to the stage buildings (in the theater, which served at that time as a public art gallery); whereupon Parrhasios himself produced such a realistic picture of a curtain that Zeuxis, proud of the verdict of the birds, requested that the curtain should now be drawn and the picture displayed; and when he realized his mistake, with a modesty that did him honor he yielded up the prize, saying that whereas he had deceived birds, Parrhasius had deceived him, an artist.        
Sunny Sunflower Song
24 x 34 Inches  Acrylic on Canvas
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A Happy Flowerpot
16 x 16 Inches  Acrylic on Canvas
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Flowery Song
21 x 32 Inches  Acrylic on Canvas
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