Illusion
With a comprehensive exhibition spanning several epochs, the Hamburger Kunsthalle will shed light on the diverse facets of the theme of illusion in art, from the Old Masters to today. Ever since antiquity, artists everywhere have been making use of the »trompe-l’oeil« technique, and it was particularly popular in the Renaissance and Baroque eras. The desire for illusionistic renderings then waned during the Romantic period, but this type of art never completely disappeared from the repertoire and it continues to fascinate artists to this day. The exhibition will show how illusion means far more than merely deceiving the eye. It is manifested in the (illusionistic) self-love of Narcissus as well as in spatial illusions in architecture, in the play of concealing and revealing via the pictorial motifs of the curtain and the mask, in the meaning of the open or closed window to the world, and in depictions of visions and dreams. Based on some 150 paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculptures, installations and video works, the show traces the many different forms taken by hyperrealism, reality, fiction, dream, transformation and deception. Among the exhibits are major works from the Hamburger Kunsthalle as well as loans from national and international collections.
Recommended for you
With a comprehensive exhibition spanning several epochs, the Hamburger Kunsthalle will shed light on the diverse facets of the theme of illusion in art, from the Old Masters to today. Ever since antiquity, artists everywhere have been making use of the »trompe-l’oeil« technique, and it was particularly popular in the Renaissance and Baroque eras. The desire for illusionistic renderings then waned during the Romantic period, but this type of art never completely disappeared from the repertoire and it continues to fascinate artists to this day. The exhibition will show how illusion means far more than merely deceiving the eye. It is manifested in the (illusionistic) self-love of Narcissus as well as in spatial illusions in architecture, in the play of concealing and revealing via the pictorial motifs of the curtain and the mask, in the meaning of the open or closed window to the world, and in depictions of visions and dreams. Based on some 150 paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, sculptures, installations and video works, the show traces the many different forms taken by hyperrealism, reality, fiction, dream, transformation and deception. Among the exhibits are major works from the Hamburger Kunsthalle as well as loans from national and international collections.
Artists on show
- Adolph von Menzel
- Adriaen Coorte
- Alexander Kanoldt
- Alfred Madsen
- Andreas Greiner
- Anish Kapoor
- Antoine van Steenwinckel
- Carl Gustav Carus
- Caspar David Friedrich
- Charles de la Fosse
- Cindy Sherman
- Cornelis Norbertus Gijsbrechts
- David Hockney
- Duane Hanson
- Edgar Degas
- Elmgreen/Dragset
- Francisco de Zurbarán
- Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes
- François Lemoyne
- Frans van Mieris the Elder
- Friedrich Wasmann
- Georg Hainz
- Georg Schrimpf
- Gerard Houckgeest
- Gerhard Richter
- Gerrit Dou
- Giovanni Battista Piranesi
- Godfried Schalcken
- Hans Memling
- Helene Appel
- Henry Fuseli
- Horst Janssen
- Howard Kanovitz
- Jacob de Wit
- James Ensor
- Jan van Rossum
- Jean Arp
- Jean Siméon Chardin
- Jean-Léon Gérôme
- Jens Lausen
- Joachim Grommek
- Joachim Ringelnatz
- Johann Friedrich Dieterich
- John William Waterhouse
- Kiki Smith
- Lars Eidinger
- Lorenzo Lippi
- Lovis Corinth
- Marc Chagall
- Markus Schinwald
- Maurits Cornelis Escher
- Max Beckmann
- Max Ernst
- Nan Goldin
- Nikos Valsamakis
- Oskar Kokoschka
- Oskar Schlemmer
- Paris Bordone
- Piet Mondrian
- Pieter Jansz. Saenredam
- René Magritte
- Robert de Launay
- Robert Delaunay
- Ron Mueck
- Roni Horn
- Samuel van Hoogstraten
- Simon Luttichuys
- Stefan Marx
- Theodoor van Thulden
- Thomas Baldischwyler
- Tony Matelli
- Victor Vasarely
- Vilhelm Hammershøi
- Wilhelm Schubert van Ehrenberg
- Wolf Vostell
- Xaver Fuhr