DIORAMANEA - where art comes to life

 

THE ARTISTS

The inventor of the Diorama, J.L.M. Daguerre (1787-1851), and C.M. Bouton were the scenic artists to develop dioramic painting, a technique used to paint on both sides of transparent fabric. Depending on front or rear light, effects would appear or disappear and transform one and the same painting, e.g. a landscape as shown above, from day to night as in true nature. Transparent painting was already fashionable at the time, but not yet with the effects of the Diorama and at a much smaller size. Because of its large size and natural proportions, the Diorama made the public feel as if being part of the scenery. Daguerre later turned his interests towards photography. Except for DIORAMANEA, no one to our knowledge has ever since tried to recreate the Diorama. The model project was a cooperation between Catherine Ganz and Alois Ellmauer. Acknowledgements are made to many people near and far who directly or indirectly helped with this project.