11.12.2024
A curtain that you want to push aside - and then realize that it is not real at all, but painted. According to legend, this is what happened to the ancient artist Zeuxis. As the Roman writer Pliny the Elder reported, Zeuxis and his fellow painter Parrhasius had a competition to see who had mastered the art of imitation better. Zeuxis painted grapes that looked so convincing that birds pecked at them. Confident of victory, he asked Parrhasius to show his painting too. But the astonishment was great: because the supposed curtain that seemed to hide Pharrasius's painting behind it was itself the painting!
Whether optical illusions, architectural spatial illusions, reflections in the picture or the illusionistic self-love of Narcissus (photo) - the false perception of reality fascinates artists and viewers to this day. The Hamburger Kunsthalle is illuminating this multifaceted topic with its current special exhibition "ILLUSION. Dream - Identity - Reality". Over 150 works of art invite visitors to take a closer look and think until April 6, 2025: Can we really trust our eyes? Isn't art always an illusion? And what is reality in a world full of fake news and virtual realities?
The audio tours soundgarden GmbH has written and produced offer answers to all of these above exciting questions. The tours are available in German and English for adults and there is a German-language version, in radio play format, with two Children voices and a talking fly, for children aged 8 and over.
We hope all museum visitors, big and small, enjoy and have fun!
And please don't be fooled ;)
Photos:
Lorenzo Lippi, "Allegory of Simulation" © Musées d'Angers, RMN-Grand Palais / Benoît Touchard
John William Waterhouse, "Echo and Narcissus" © Courtesy National Museums Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery
Piet Mondrian, "Farm near Duivendrecht" © Kunstmuseum Den Haag - Estate of Salomon B. Slijper