John Haberle's delightful visual trickery

16 May 2010

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John Haberle's "Torn in Transit" is part of the exhibiton at the Brandywine River Museum.

Only about 40 trompe l'oeil paintings---images that literally "fool the eye"---are known by 19th-century artist John Haberle. The Brandywine River Museum is presenting about half of his meticulous, illusionist works, in a show augmented by the paintings of Haberle's contemporaries, such as William Michael Harnett and John Frederick Peto.

Through July 11, this exhibition in Chadds Ford, Penn., which was organized with the New Britain Museum of American Art, shows Haberle's strength in rendering details and offers visitors a chance to view much of his oeuvre juxtaposed with the still-lifes of his compatriots, who are perhaps more well-known, in illusionist painting.

An illustrated catalog written by Gertrude Grace Sill accompanies the exhibition.

Read more at Philadelphia Inquirer

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