Ilusions and art?

Question

Please help. I'm at the libary and I need to get out some books of various artists for my art history assignment. I have to chose 9 paintings by different artists and my theme is Illusion. I thought I would do some Neo-classical work, since it is very idealised, some modern art and some pure illusions. Do you have any suggestions or ideas of works that will have lots of information on them? I need to be able to identify subjects and themes, interpret subjects and stylistic devices! Thanks =)

Answer 1

Neo-Classicism works as it uses certain tricks to show the illusion of space and time.

Op-Art would also be good
FROM WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Op art, also known as optical art, is used to describe some paintings and other works of art which use optical illusions. Op art is not to be confused with Pop art, though both appeared before the 1960s but came to full prominence during that decade, having their own schools of artists.

Op art works are abstract, with many of the better known pieces made in only black and white. When the viewer looks at them, the impression is given of movement, hidden images, flashing and vibration, patterns, or alternatively of swelling or warping.

The term first appeared in print in Time Magazine in October 1964, though works which might now be described as "op art" had been produced for several years previously. It has been suggested that Victor Vasarely's 1930s works such as Zebra (1938), which is made up entirely of diagonal black and white stripes curved in a way to give a three-dimensional impression of a seated zebra, should be considered the first works of Op art.


House I, created by Roy Lichtenstein in 1996, is designed to be an optical illusion. The house is inverted; the point that seems to be the nearest corner is actually the farthest from the viewer.In 1965, a show called The Responsive Eye was held in New York City. The works shown were wide ranging and would not all now be considered to be Op art - indeed, not all of it was at the time. This show did a great deal to make Op art prominent, and many of the artists now considered important in the style exhibited there. Op art subsequently became tremendously popular, and Op art images were used in a number of commercial contexts. Bridget Riley tried to sue an American company, without success, for using one of her paintings as the basis of a fabric design.

Bridget Riley is perhaps the best known of the Op artists. Taking Vasarely's lead, she made a number of paintings consisting only of black and white lines. Rather than giving the impression of some real-world object, however, Riley's paintings frequently give the impression of movement or colour.

Riley later produced works in full color, and other Op artists have worked in color as well, although these works tend to be less well known. Violent contrasts of color are sometimes used to produce similar illusions of movement.

A large show of Op art was held in Strasbourg in 2005 (L'oeil Moteur) and another is planned at Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt for February -May 2007. Bridget Riley's Op art has been shown internationally in recent years (e.g. Dia Center, New York, 2000;Tate Britain, London, 2003; Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, 2004)

Op artists: Jesús-Rafael Soto, Carlos Cruz Diez, Youri Messen-Jaschin, Julio Le Parc, M.C. Escher, Julian Stanczak, Richard Anuszkiewicz, Agam, Daniel Burren, Nicolas Schöffer, Peter Sedgely, Bridget Riley & Zanis Waldheims

ARTISTS TO LOOK AT:
Victor Vasarely
MC Escher
Bridget Riley

Roy Lichtenstein

Answer 2

The Last Supper by da vinci is the obvious choice

Answer 3

i wouldnt pick the neoclassical era because they and nothing close to illusion go with cubism and nonobjective art. picasso has some very good cubism art

Answer 4

Isn't there some government buildling in S.F that has a neoclassical art form to it?

Answer 5

Magritte also

Answer 6

how about that guy m.c. escher?? :)