Trompe L’Oeil

Trompe l’oeil means to fool the eye. It often consists of an architectural element rendered two dimensionally but appears to the viewer to be three dimensional. Additionally there is an element of delight when the viewer realizes the optical trick being played.

Monsarrat Group has added trompe l’oeil to its repertoire of techniques through study with Michel Nadai of France. Michel’s expertise in such disciplines as perspective, murals, marbling, graining and trompe l'oeil ornaments and moldings led to his receiving the life-time title of Best Craftsman of France in Decorative Painting and Trompe L'Oeil. http://www.michelnadai.com/indexus.html

Today’s open airy floor plans often have large unwieldy expanses of wall, particularly in foyers and stairways. Painting panels and moldings on these walls can reduce their perceived size to a more “satisfactory” scale. Rendering the highlights and shadows of railings, stiles and panels, the trompe l’oeil artist can subdivide these walls into a harmonious scale using the Golden Proportion developed by the Greeks and used over the centuries by architects and artists.

Trompe l’oeil can also be used as a technique to extend the space of a room with a wall mural depicting architectural elements and vistas beyond that wall plane. It can transport the room occupants to another place and time.