One Dollar Silver Certificate
1899
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
1899
oil
canvas
From the collection of Art Institute of Chicago
Dominant colour
One Dollar Silver Certificate is a 1899 oil by Victor Dubreuil, a Impressionism work, held at Art Institute of Chicago.
You see a one-dollar bill pinned to a wooden board, painted so real you want to peel it off. Dubreuil worked in a bank before he painted money. He knew every crease and ink smudge. This isn’t a fake—it’s a painting that plays with the idea of value. Back then, counterfeit bills fooled people all the time. His work makes you question what’s real. Look up other paintings by Victor Dubreuil.
Having worked as a bank clerk in Paris, Victor Dubreuil moved to the United States in 1882, possibly to escape charges that he had stolen money from his employer. In New York he established himself as an artist, specializing in ultra-illusionistic depictions of currency: some elaborate in composition while others more restrained, such as One Dollar Silver Certificate . In the late 19th century, counterfeiting of legal tender was a widespread problem. Trompe l’oeil replications—albeit on canvas or board rather than paper—aroused suspicion among government officials. At least two of Dubreuil’s…
New York, Kennedy Galleries, Summits III: American Master Paintings, Drawings and Prints, Oct. 21–Nov. 28, 1987, cat. 15.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Victor Dubreuil was a French–American artist known for his trompe l'oeil paintings of money.
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