illusionism

[ih-loo-zhuh-niz-uhm]

noun

1. a technique of using pictorial methods in order to deceive the eye.

2. Philosophy.,  a theory or doctrine that the material world is an illusion.

illusionism

/ ɪˈluːʒəˌnɪzəm /

noun

1. philosophy the doctrine that the external world exists only in illusory sense perceptions

2. the use of highly illusory effects in art or decoration, esp the use of perspective in painting to create an impression of three-dimensional reality

Other Word Forms

• illusionistic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of illusionism¹

First recorded in 1835–45; illusion + -ism

Example Sentences

A genre of mostly paintings whose subject matter is photographs and whose prevailing style is precise illusionism began to emerge in the late 1960s.

From Los Angeles Times

The artist, who’s known for installations that combine video, sculpture and projections, has both an artistic investment in and a family connection to illusionism.

From New York Times

For some years, he kept acting and illusionism separate.

From New York Times

In art, all this necessitated a turn away from illusionism and a return to the basic building blocks, the foundational honesty of abstraction: line, color, materials, structure.

From Washington Post

The greatest leaps in his development as an abstract painter came through absorption of the liberation of color in French Fauvism and the spatial transformation of pictorial illusionism in Claude Monet’s lily ponds, as well as from traditional Japanese aesthetics.

From Los Angeles Times