Trompe l’oeil artwork

This is a preliminary page of notes. I like this style of art because it’s showing everyday objects in a realistic but frozen state of use.

The emphasis here will be on physical objects, but I would be remiss to not show how trompe l’oeil was employed in 18th century portraiture, such as Charles Amédée Philippe Van Loo’s Soap Bubbles and Charles Willson Peale’s portrait of his sons,

Letter racks

Works by Edward Collier / Edwaert Colyer, including:
A Trompe l’Oeil of Newspapers, Letters and Writing Implements on a Wooden Board, c. 1699
A Trompe l’Oeil of Newspapers, Letters and Writing Implements on a Wooden Board, c. 1699
Trompe l'oeil with Writing Materials, 1702
Trompe l'œil with a letter rack holding newspapers, letters, writing equipment and a comb, 1706 (essay)
A trompe l'oeil of a letter rack with documents, pamphlets, a miniature of King William III (1650-1702), a medallion, a quill, a stick of red wax, a magnifying-glass, combs, scissors, and other objects

Trompe-l oeil of a Letter-rack by Strickland Lowry

Other stuff

Medley: a trompe l'oeil representation of engravings, pages from illustrated books, a playing card etc., by Samuel Moore, c. 1700

A medley with a sheet of music, a portrait, playing cards, title-pages and an initial letter by Bernard Lens II, 1704

Tromp l'oeil composition showing overlapping drawings and engravings, a page from a calendar, some coins and a franked envelope addressed to Monsieur Antoine Sielli, Florence, mid-18th century

More works by Strickland Lowry, including L’Ecole Flamande, The Spartan Boy, Aeneas carrying his father from Troy, a member of the Stacpoole family, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and a self-portrait

Additional Resources

Mr. Collier's Letter Racks: A Tale of Art and Illusion at the Threshold of the Modern Information Age

The Reverse of a Framed Painting, and Other Trompe L’oeil by Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts (more of his work at the SMK)

A Letter Rack for Sir Ralph Bankes