Past Exhibition

Deceptions and Illusions

Two pieces of paper money, two coins, and a small black and white photograph of a bearded man seem to be affixed to a dark surface surrounded by a wide wooden frame, to which several stamps have been affixed in the lower left corner. A dollar bill with frayed edges is stuck to the black background across the center, and the lower left corner lifts up. The dollar bill has a portrait of George Washington in an oval at the center with “UNITED STATES” above. The serial number “Z143091888” appears in red to the left and is repeated in the upper right corner, and “ONE DOLLAR WASHINGTON DC” is printed in black to the right. Overlapping the top left of the dollar bill, another bill about half the size is printed with a portrait of a cleanshaven, light-skinned man in a high-necked coat and frilled collar, angled to our right but looking at us over a long, hooked nose and wide lips. To our right, the bill reads, “UNITED STATES FRACTIONAL CURRENCY,” and, below a seal, “FIFTY CENTS.” Above the dollar bill, a worn, copper-colored coin is held to the panel by three small prongs. The coin has the head of a person facing our left in profile. An inscription around the edge reads, “AUCTORI CONNEC.” A small photograph showing the head and shoulders of a bearded, balding man wearing glasses and a dark suit seems to have been tucked into the lower left corner between the dark background and the wood frame. Slightly behind the photograph, a silver coin resting on the ledge of the frame has a six-pointed star with a striped crest at the center, and is inscribed around the edge, “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1853.” Above the photograph is a dark circular stamp stuck with a pin. Attached to the bottom left corner of the wood frame are several different colored, cancelled stamps, some of them torn. In the bottom center, a piece of paper with the typed words “J. Haberle” seems to have been pasted onto the frame. The painting is inscribed in the upper right with red against the black field: “J. HABERLE NEW HAVEN, CT. 1887.” Upon closer inspection, we notice the edge of the wood frame is actually rough canvas. There also does not seem to be a gap between the painted picture and the wood frame. We eventually realize that all of it—the money, photograph, stamps, and frame—are all painted to create an illusion.
John Haberle, Imitation, 1887, oil on canvas, New Century Fund, Gift of the Amon G. Carter Foundation, 1998.96.1

Details

  • Dates

    -
  • Locations

    East Building, Mezzanine, Northwest, and Upper Level, Northwest and West Bridge
Two pieces of paper money, two coins, and a small black and white photograph of a bearded man seem to be affixed to a dark surface surrounded by a wide wooden frame, to which several stamps have been affixed in the lower left corner. A dollar bill with frayed edges is stuck to the black background across the center, and the lower left corner lifts up. The dollar bill has a portrait of George Washington in an oval at the center with “UNITED STATES” above. The serial number “Z143091888” appears in red to the left and is repeated in the upper right corner, and “ONE DOLLAR WASHINGTON DC” is printed in black to the right. Overlapping the top left of the dollar bill, another bill about half the size is printed with a portrait of a cleanshaven, light-skinned man in a high-necked coat and frilled collar, angled to our right but looking at us over a long, hooked nose and wide lips. To our right, the bill reads, “UNITED STATES FRACTIONAL CURRENCY,” and, below a seal, “FIFTY CENTS.” Above the dollar bill, a worn, copper-colored coin is held to the panel by three small prongs. The coin has the head of a person facing our left in profile. An inscription around the edge reads, “AUCTORI CONNEC.” A small photograph showing the head and shoulders of a bearded, balding man wearing glasses and a dark suit seems to have been tucked into the lower left corner between the dark background and the wood frame. Slightly behind the photograph, a silver coin resting on the ledge of the frame has a six-pointed star with a striped crest at the center, and is inscribed around the edge, “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1853.” Above the photograph is a dark circular stamp stuck with a pin. Attached to the bottom left corner of the wood frame are several different colored, cancelled stamps, some of them torn. In the bottom center, a piece of paper with the typed words “J. Haberle” seems to have been pasted onto the frame. The painting is inscribed in the upper right with red against the black field: “J. HABERLE NEW HAVEN, CT. 1887.” Upon closer inspection, we notice the edge of the wood frame is actually rough canvas. There also does not seem to be a gap between the painted picture and the wood frame. We eventually realize that all of it—the money, photograph, stamps, and frame—are all painted to create an illusion.
John Haberle, Imitation, 1887, oil on canvas, New Century Fund, Gift of the Amon G. Carter Foundation, 1998.96.1

Overview: This exhibition of 116 paintings, sculptures, books, prints, drawings, decorative arts, and a mosaic explored artistic depictions that momentarily fool the eye with the appearance of reality. Visitors entered the exhibition by walking over a facsimile of a Roman mosaic floor and passing the lifelike sculpture, Security Guard, by Duane Hanson. Exhibition prologues established the literary and visual sources of trompe l'oeil with sections devoted to Trompe l'Oeil in Antiquity, The Grapes of Zeuxis, The Curtain of Parrhasios, Xenia and Trophies of the Hunt, and Giotto's Flies and the Observation of Nature. Following these introductory sections, the exhibition was divided into parts titled: Temptation for the Hand; Things on the Wall; Niches, Cupboards, and Cabinets; In and Out of the Picture; The Painting as Object; and The Object as Art.

An audio tour was narrated by National Gallery of Art Director Earl A. Powell III and included commentary by Franklin Kelly, senior curator of American and British paintings, and Arthur K. Wheelock Jr., curator of northern baroque paintings at the National Gallery of Art.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Sybille Ebert-Schifferer, director at the Bibliotheca Hertziana, Max Planck Institute for Art History, Rome, was the guest curator. Franklin Kelly was coordinating curator.

Sponsor: The exhibition was sponsored by Mary Jo and Robert L. Kirk. It was supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Support for the catalogue was provided by Mark and Ann Kington through the Kington Foundation, and Nola Anderson and Jim Mullen.

Attendance: 231,905

Catalog: Deceptions and Illusions: Five Centuries of Trompe l'Oeil Painting by Sybille Ebert-Schifferer, with essays by Sybille Ebert-Schifferer, Wolf Singer, Paul Staiti, Alberto Veca, and Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art, 2002.