Trick of the Eye: How Artists Fool Your Brain

If seeing is believing, then artists might be the biggest liars of all. Painters, sculptors and photographers often try to convince their audiences that the paint is wet; the fruit is real; the window is open; the figure’s eyes are following you around the room. This fun and informative book takes young readers on a thematic tour of art as illusion. From the Parthenon through examples from nearly every major movement and culture, vibrant works of art are revealed to contain visual tricks, puns, hidden clues and just plain deceit. Seurat’s pointillism, da Vinci’s mysterious Mona Lisa, Magritte’s playful paintings-within-paintings, Duane Hanson’s eerily realistic statues are all explored in detail to discuss the techniques, styles, use of perspective, and composition that implore us to look at them again and again. Filled with ideas for do-it-yourself optical projects, each chapter focuses on a theme such as color, hidden pictures, and surrealism. Designed with the curious eye in mind, this book will introduce young readers to beguiling works of art with fresh insight and a new way of appreciating some of the world’s most important works of art.

Silke Vry (Author)

Silke Vry, an archaeologist and art historian, is the author of numerous books for children, including Trick of the Eye: Art and Illusion and Colors in Art: Red, Yellow, Blue (both Prestel).