1883 Pansies and Books and Birthday Wishes Trompe l’Oeil Oil on Board carved bone owl and frog indicating diagonal sliding of playing

indicating diagonal sliding of playing pieces

The box shows plenty of wear

I find it very beautiful formally

The way my mind works

1883 Pansies and Books and Birthday Wishes Trompe l’Oeil Oil on Board carved bone owl and frog indicating diagonal sliding of playingIve been drawn like a magnet lately to paintings with solid black grounds so satisfyingly graphic, and amplifying the sense of significance and symbolic weight to the subjects portrayed. And I love any sort of troupe loeil, especially with books in it! This one appears to have been painted as a present, marking the occasion of the recipients birthday on an April 8. 1883. Curiously, the painted text on that page of the book seems first to have read