U.S.A, c.1889 (oil on canvas)

John Haberle's U.S.A. caused an uproar when it was exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1889. Haberle-one of the wittiest American practitioners of trompe l'oeil, had created an image so convincing that a newspaper critic claimed the artist had pasted real currency and stamps onto his canvas. Haberle travelled to Chicago to prove that U.S.A. was composed entirely of oil paint. Originally apprenticed as an engraver, he was once investigated by the Secret Service, which alleged that he was breaking the law against counterfeiting. With U.S.A., Haberle was deliberately defying the government by depicting the back of a one-dollar bill with its warning against imitation of federal currency;