The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Trompe l'Oeil Still Life

c. 1754

Jacobus Cornelis Meyer

(Dutch, active 1700s)
Netherlands
pen and ink, point of brush and black ink wash, watercolor and gouache
Sheet: 37.3 x 27.4 cm (14 11/16 x 10 13/16 in.)
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Frank E. Brown 1955.376
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

In addition to tricking the eye, trompe l’oeil images like this one were meant to demonstrate an artist’s skill.

Description

Understood in the 1700s as a delightful, intellectual game, trompe l’oeil paintings and drawings such as this one were devised to “trick the eye” as the French term suggests. Toeing the line between realism and deception, the details of these compositions expose them as elaborate illusions. Here, Jacobus Cornelis Meyer’s image invites the viewer to uncover the trick. While the print depicted at center alludes to a well-known Dutch comedy revolving around hidden identity, the open curtain and fictional tears and creases in the papers encourage the viewer to physically reach out and break the illusion.
  • ?–1955
    Mr. and Mrs. Frank E. Brown, Cleveland, OH, given to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    July 8, 1955–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Imagination in the Age of Reason. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 28, 2024-March 2, 2025).
  • {{cite web|title=Trompe l'Oeil Still Life|url=false|author=Jacobus Cornelis Meyer|year=c. 1754|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1955.376