Trompe l'oeil: a deceptive reality at the Thyssen Museum
Samuel van Hoogstraten - Trompe loeil Still life - 1666-1678Jean-Etienne Liotard - Trompe loeil - 1771
From 16 March to 22 May 2022, the Thyssen Museum presents "Hyperreal. The art of Trompe l'oeil", an exhibition that studies the history of trompe l'oeil in art, from the Renaissance to contemporary art.
Source: Thyssen Museum, Madrid. Images: Samuel van Hoogstraten, "Trompe l'oeil Still life", 1666-1678. Oil on canvas, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe ·· Jean-Étienne Liotard, "Trompe l'oeil", 1771. Oil on silk. Frick Collection, New York
The use of the pictorial technique to deceive the viewer's perception dates back at least as far as classical antiquity, with examples found in Roman painting, and possibly also in Greek paintings, now lost. Although "Hyperreal. The art of Trompe l'oeil" does not go back that far, it does propose a very complete journey from the 15th century to the present day. However, the exhibition does not follow a chronological route, but rather a thematic one, with the aim of "emphasise the continuity of the genre, which is still in use today", according to the museum.
Curated by Mar Borobia and Guillermo Solana, the exhibition is divided into six thematic sections, explained the museum in a press release. The exhibition is divided into six thematic sections, explained by the museum in a press release: "Mise-en-scène, devoted to the still life; Figures, frames and boundaries, which looks at the visual deception of the painted frame; Alcoves for the inquisitive, with depictions of niches, windows and cupboards housing objects that deceive the viewer’s eye; Fake walls: Planks and Partitions, transformed into settings to display objects that reveal the artist’s skill; Perfect disorderand corners of artists’ studios, which focuses on artists’ working spaces and on so-called quodlibets, a sub-genre of the trompe l’oeil; Appeal to the senses, featuring compositions with sculptures or flowers as the principal motif; American renewal and its wake, devoted to various American artists who rethought this genre and their influence, and The modern trompe l’oeil, featuring works notable for revealing their creators’ imagination and ability to surprise, with a particular focus on the 20th and 21st centuries. The exhibition concludes with a work by the sculptor Isidro Blasco that has been specially commissioned as the conclusion to this survey."
Among the most notable works in the exhibition are the "Diptych of the Annunciation", the only painting by Jan van Eyck in Spain, and one of the oldest works in the exhibition (as well as one of the Museum's most important paintings); "Still Life with Fruit and Vegetables" (circa 1602), one of the few known works by Juan Sánchez Cotán, on loan from the Abelló Collection; the spectacular "Trompe l'oeil Still Life" (1666-1678) by Samuel van Hoogstraten, on loan from the Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe; and "Window in the afternoon" (1974-1982), by Antonio López, on loan from the ACS Collection.

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