The Insider's Retreat I, II, and III
Artist
Vik Muniz
(American, b. 1961)
Date1990
Mediumgelatin silver prints in artist-made frames
Dimensionswindow: 58 1/2 × 32 5/8 in. (148.6 × 82.9 cm)
door: 67 1/2 × 40 in. (171.5 × 101.6 cm)
window: 59 × 33 in. (149.9 × 83.8 cm)
ClassificationsPhotography
Credit LineGift of Meredith and Brother Rutter
Object number2019.20
DescriptionThis is a group of three toned gelatin silver prints in custom frames depicting a door and two windows, in turn. The Insider’s Retreat is an early example of Vik Muniz’s photographic illusionism. The photograph draws on the tradition of trompe l’oeil painting, French for “fool the eye.” While traditional trompe l’oeil artists displayed their painterly skills by depicting an object to look as it would in real space, Muniz uses a camera to trick the eye, playing with the idea that photography has ushered in an entirely new way to look at the world. Here, the life-size photographs of a door and windows suggest a house without clearly portraying it.
