NEWS

This painting is one of a pair by French artist Amédée Van Loo featuring children playing with toys or games. The children are shown reaching out of a trompe l’oeil (a French term meaning “deceives the eye”) oval frame. The young boy is holding a camera obscura, an optical device that uses a lens to capture an image. The patron of the pendant paintings has never been identified but they have long been associated with the Prussian imperial family. Frederick the Great was known to be fascinated by optical devices. The second painting features children playing with a soap bubble, another illusion of light and transparency.

Van Loo came from a family of Flemish artists who settled in France. A lost work of his represented the virtues of King Louis XV. It was an early example of his interest in optical themes. When looked at through a faceted lens, a portrait of the king became visible.

The optics of the camera obscura have been known since antiquity and artists have used it as a tool for viewing the world since the Renaissance. Watch this video clip from “Vermeer: Master of Light” to learn more about how the Dutch master might have used a camera obscura in his work. http://bit.ly/1DqejPN

Look again: what do you find most surprising about this painting?

#ArtAtoZ #OpticalIllusion

Charles Amédée Philippe Van Loo, “The Camera Obscura,” 1764, oil on canvas, Gift of Mrs. Robert W. Schuette.

http://1.usa.gov/1MkdpN0