9/24/2004

Weekend Wine Festivals, Art and Other High Culture

Plenty of things to do in Oklahoma this weekend.

We have three Oklahoma wine festivals at Stone Bluff Cellars, Natura Winery and Canadian River Winery this weekend.

Plus, Tulsa's awesome Philbrook museum is presenting Feast the Eye, Fool the Eye...a fascinating exhibition of Trompe-l'oeil art.

Trompe-l'oeil (pronounced tromp loy) is a French term literally meaning trick the eye. Sometimes called illusionism, it is a style of painting which gives the appearance of three-dimensional or photographic realism in paint.

...trompe-l’oeil paintings specifically attempt to deceive the viewer into believing that a two-dimensional painting is in reality a three-dimensional vignette.


There is a story from ancient Greece about two painters who were rivals in a contest. Each painter would try to make a picture that produced a more perfect illusion of the real world. One, named Zeuxis, painted a likeness of grapes so natural that birds flew down to peck at them.

Then his opponent, Parrhasius brought in his picture covered in a cloth. Reaching out to lift the curtain, Zeuxis was stunned to discover he had lost the contest. What had appeared to be a cloth was in reality his rival's painting.

HGTV even teaches a few Trompe-l'oeil techniques for decorating your part of the world. Check out the tasting room at Natura Winery, to see it in action.

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