Cheap Cubism and the Trompe l’Oeil Tradition Coffee Table Books | Met Publications

Emily Braun and Elizabeth Cowlingwith contributions by Claire Le Thomas and Rachel MustalishThe age-old tradition of pictorial illusionism known as trompe l’oeil (“deceive the eye”) employs visual tricks that confound the viewer’sperception of reality and fiction, truth and falsehood. This radically new take on Cubism shows how Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Juan Grisboth parodied and paid homage to classic trompe l’oeil themes and motifs. The authors connect Cubist works to trompe l’oeil specialists ofearlier centuries by juxtaposing more than one hundred Cubist paintings,drawings, and collages with related compositions by old masters. Theinformed and engaging texts trace the changing status of trompe l’oeil over the centuries, reveal Braque’s training in artisanal trompe l’oeiltechniques as an integral part of his Cubist practice, examine the material used in Gris’s collages, and discuss the previously unstudied trompe l’oeiliconography within Cubist still lifes. Emily Braun is Distinguished Professor of Art History at Hunter College and theGraduate Center, City University of New York, and Curator of the Leonard A. Lauder Collection.Elizabeth Cowling is Professor Emeritus and Honorary Fellow in the History of Art at the University of Edinburgh.