The trompe l’œil has an image problem. The genre – in its narrowest sense a group of works that create an optical illusion, typically tricking the viewer into mistaking the representation of an object for the object itself – has long been relegated to the ranks of ‘low art’. Its beguiling feats of deception and preoccupation with everyday artefacts mean that it has often been considered too vulgar, too popular, too whimsical, to be taken seriously. In 19th-century France, where the term was first coined, it was seen as being on a par with circuses and street performers: a crowd-pleasing stunt that brought the burgeoning middle classes flocking. It has never quite managed to shrug off this reputation… 

Read the full article in Apollo Magazine, available online here.