The Illusionist of the Inter-war Years To look at the work of Rex Whistler is to confront a deliberate deception. He did not merely paint; he constructed visual traps designed to trick the eye into forgetting the flat surface of a wall or canvas. This was the era of trompe l'oeil, and Whistler used it with a sharp, witty precision that defined his place within the fashionable circles of the Bright Young Things. His talent lay in creating painted illusions so convincing they blurred the line between the depicted and the real. His early success arrived with startling speed. At only twenty-two…