Michael Theise

Born in the Bronx and raised in Milford, Connecticut, Michael Theise produced trompe l'oeil paintings since his formal training at the Paier College of Art in Hamden. Inspired by the deception, imagination, and skill required in this genre, Theise focused on creating paintings that take trompe l'oeil from the nineteenth into the twenty-first century. However, he frequently referenced the original masters of trompe l'oeil (John Haberle, Michael Harnett, and John Frederick Peto) in the details of his paintings.