In these quintessential urban public spaces, the act of being fooled became a collective social experience, much as it is on “Is It Cake?” Not only are viewers taking pleasure in the failure of the on-screen judges, but the judges themselves must also reach a collective verdict after 20 seconds of debate. They looked so real that people reportedly tried to grab painted violins and dollar bills off the wall.Įven those prone to suspicion could fall victim, because the paintings were exhibited without frames and in atypical settings like pubs, shop windows and hotel lobbies. In the last decades of the 19th century, while the art world was enamored with Van Gogh and Matisse, middle-class Americans became obsessed with trompe l’oeil paintings – hyperrealistic still lifes that featured life-size everyday objects. Barnum’s hoaxes to a painting technique called “ trompe l’oeil.” Guessing games Yet as an art historian who researches the history of visual deception, I’ve noticed that throughout American history, moments of social anxiety around truth tend to be accompanied by similar “fool the eye” pop culture phenomena, from P.T.
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