Trompe l'oeil
1846
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
1846
ink
From the collection of National Gallery of Art
This image looks like a flat surface with odd cutouts. You see a map of a town, a pair of giant yellow scissors, a book with handwritten text, a flower in a vase, and a few small pictures of buildings and ships. The colors are muted—mostly grays, blues, and yellows—with a few pops of red and green. Everything seems glued or pasted onto a light background, like a collage. The scissors are the biggest thing here, almost like they’re ready to cut the whole scene. The handwritten note in the center looks like a poem or a letter, but it’s hard to read. If you like this mix of real and fake, look up watercolor, glazing.
