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John Haberle

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John Haberle

American, (1856–1933)
John Haberle was a master of illusion, and one of the most important trompe l'oeil painters of the late 19th century. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut. From childhood he was an inveterate doodler and sketch artist; and at 14 he left school, where he had not been very attentive, and became an apprentice to a bookplate designer and engraver. By his late 20s he was active in New Haven art circles and was a founder of the New Haven Sketch Club in 1883. His earliest known work, dated 1882, is a precisely rendered drawing that is a sort of prophesy of the incredibly realistic work he would do later. In 1884 he enrolled in the National Academy of Design and spent a year there. Trompe l'oeil was in vogue, and he decided to concentrate on this particularly demanding form of painting. His subjects reflect the tastes of the day, which ran to representations of paper money, stamps, musical instruments and bric-a-brac; but his best work is far more individualistic than that of his contemporaries.


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