Gabriel-Gaspard Grésly

With David Koetser, Zurich;

From whom acquired by Hans and Marion König, 1989.

In this beguiling trompe l’oeil still life, a specific genre intended to deceive the eye of the beholder, Gabriel-Gaspard Grésly depicts a smattering of papers—letters, playing cards, prints, and drawings—and objects that appear affixed to a vertical wooden board hanging on the wall. Playing on the mimetic power of painting, such works (if painted with enough skill) were intended to trick viewers into questioning the fine line between the real and illusory.