Object Recognition in Picasso’s Abstract Art

The visual arts have for hundreds of years presented viewers with images that have been more or less representational of the external world. In fact, many of these images have been such convincing representations of the world that they can fool the viewer into thinking that the representation is in fact reality or a photograph, and not paint on a canvas. Examples of such trompe I’oeil (fool the eye) paintings are some of the works of Jan Vermeer, or Fra Andrea Pozzo's painting on the ceiling of the Church of Sant' Ignazio in Rome (Rock, 1984). There are certain limitations on being fooled, however. For example, spectators must view the painting from the same angle from which the artist viewed it. Characteristics of paintings that would destroy the illusion, such as brush strokes, must also be concealed (Rock, 1984).