Wednesday 27 January 2010

A TRICK OF THE EYE


Trompe d'oeil has fascinated me ever since I saw Rene Magritte's fabulous painting of the easel and the smashed window containing the shattered clouds - and experienced that blinking moment of disbelief as I asked myself:  is it real?

I like the topsy-turvy sensation that Trompe d'oeil evokes as a metaphor for life itself.  That nothing is ever as it seems...(HEAVY!).  And it's always good to look at things in a different way.



While in Avignon last November - we seemed to find an example of this particular style at every corner.  It made the place seem even more magical - a city with lots of secret places.  

An actress I know has her bathroom painted to resemble a Greek temple.  It's decadent and delicious.
So...if you could decorate a room in this style - what would it be?  The typical Tuscan landscape?  A rooftop view of New York?  Or inside the trumpet of a daffodil?


5 comments:

  1. Right now, as I sit and shiver because I'm too tight to put the heating on, I rather fancy a room that resembles being on top of the acropolis in Lindos. The crumbling columns (quite Grecian like your friend) and sheer cliffs plunging into the deep blue Aegean. It would give an overwhelming sensation of height, depth, falling and HEAT.

    Could be a case of 'don't try this at home' though, Sharon. Remember Hilda Ogden's 'muriel'? Mountain vistas and cliffside seascapes are fair enough but the flying ducks ...

    Love,
    Rach.
    XX

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  2. My room? The inside of a Bedouin tent! Caroline x

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  3. Having had a life-long devotion to Coronation Street - indeed I do remember Hilda (a modern Mrs. Malaprop!) and her "Muriel"

    And Caroline, a Bedouin tent - mmm! - the ultimate M&B fantasy!

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  4. I love the trompe stuff, its what we film makers do all the time. Also vg skull. re Hilda and Coronation St. I directed it at the start of my career - all the old Street stars, Hilda, Ena, Annie, Pat, Len, Minnie passed in front of my camera. I have many slightly tiresome anecdotes I could share with you. Was the skull at the end of the Ave. Montaigne - just a guess.

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  5. Yes, Rick - that's EXACTLY where the skull was and I want to hear all those "slightly tiresome" anecdotes at some point!

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