High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Illusionism in art history means either the artistic tradition in which artists create a work of art that appears to share the physical space with the viewer., or more broadly the attempt to represent physical appearances precisely - also called mimesis. The term realist may be used in this broader sense, but that also has a rather different meaning. Illusionism encompasses a long history, from the deceptions of Zeuxis and Parrhasius to the works of Richard Haas in the twentieth century, that includes trompe-l'oeil, anamorphosis, Op art, Abstract Illusionism, and Illusionistic ceiling painting techniques such as di sotto in sù and quadratura. Sculptural illusionism includes works, often painted, that appear real from a distance. Other forms, such as Samuel van Hoogstraten's "peepshow"-boxes from the seventeenth- century, combine illusionistic techniques and media