Love Of Money Focus Of Otis Kaye Artwork At NBMAA

“Trompe l’oeil” means “fools the eye,” and that is the goal of all trompe l’oeil painters: to trick viewers into thinking they’re looking at something real when they are actually looking at a painting.

But that wasn’t enough for Otis Kaye. The German-American painter (1885-1974) wanted to use his work to make ironic and disapproving statements about the power of money over society and the human psyche. In so doing, he established himself as not just one of the premier trompe l’oeil masters of the 20th century but also a top-notch social commentator.

“He was fundamentally a revolutionary … an incredible philosopher,” said Douglas Hyland, director of the New Britain Museum of American Art. “Here was this enlightened European intellectual re-examining our views on society, on money, on the way we love, on Christmas. … Seventeenth-century Dutch paintings always had a lesson in morality, and he wanted to update these issues to make them relevant to viewers today.”

“Otis Kaye: Money, Mystery and Mastery” is on the walls now at New Britain Museum of American Art. The 34-piece show includes paintings, watercolors, pastels and etchings from the museum’s collection and items on loan. Some are on loan from the Federal Reserve, which honors Kaye’s expertise at duplicating money by owning eight of his pieces.

The NBMAA exhibit is the first-ever museum exhibit of work by Kaye.

Kaye’s life story is largely a mystery. He lived far outside the established art world, never sold or exhibited any pieces in the United States during his lifetime and led a low-key life. However, a few facts are known about him that would make his fixation on money understandable: He lost most of his savings in the 1929 Wall Street crash, and his wife left him in 1932, among other reasons, because she was frustrated with her husband’s meager salary and missed her parents’ affluent lifestyle.

The failure of his marriage no doubt influenced his 1950 work “Amor Vincit Omnia” (“Love Conquers All”), an oil-on-panel that depicts dollar bills in the shape of a heart, two dice turned up “snake eyes” and a candy cane creating a question mark at the end of the piece’s title.

“Does love indeed conquer all? People say it does, but does it? Can love be gauged by a level of wealth? People say money can’t buy love, but it certainly makes life easier,” Hyland said.

The ups and downs of the stock market are reflected in his 1937 “D’-JIA VU?” The misspelling of “deja vu” is intentional, reflecting the acronym for Dow Jones Industrial Average, and the pattern of dollar bills in the piece show the strength of the stock market in the eight years after the big crash, starting with high-value bank notes and ending with meager ones. His 1935 “Easy Come, Easy Go” shows bank notes flying into and out of a wallet in the shape of a butterfly.

“Double or Nothin / Carte Blanche” is Kaye’s reflection on the randomness of fate and fortune. Two violins are shown side-by-side. One is in perfect condition and is surrounded by large-denomination bills and a expensive wristwatch. The other is ruined by a huge hole in the back, and is surrounded by small bills and a cheap watch. Between the violins are a hand of cards, a horseshoe and two dice. “Will your life be a disaster, where somebody puts their foot through your violin and all you have is five bucks and a broken Mickey Mouse watch, or will you wind up with a perfect instrument, a diamond and emerald watch, playing ‘Puttin’ on the Ritz’?” Hyland said. “Here you have every symbol of success, and here you have desperation.”

The ability of money to corrupt good things, and to be spent unwisely, can be seen in “Win, Place, Show” and “What a Hit!”, two comments on sports betting, one of which features a nonexistent three-dollar bill. “Will You Play Ball,” not a trompe l’oeil but a pastel-and-pencil still life, shows a baseball, a hot dog, a mug of beer, a pile of money and a ticket to the 1919 World Series, which became notorious for the Black Sox betting scandal.

Kaye’s most cutting commentaries take on two things that couldn’t be more different: war, and Christmas. “Soldiers’ Valor” and “Land of the Free, Home of the Brave” honor fighting men, but question the usefulness of war. “Seasons Greetings II” constructs a Christmas tree out of money and questions who, or what, is really worshipped on that holiday.

In all the paintings Kaye features his name in a variety of amusing ways, sometimes on the painted faux-frame, sometimes as a newspaper headline, sometimes as a signature on a dollar bill and once, all too honestly, as a member of the “Society of Anonymous Artists.”

The exhibit is enhanced by a small display case showing eight antique coins identical to some of those painted by Kaye. They come from a collection of rare and old coins recently donated to the museum by a retired Hartford cardiologist.

“OTIS KAYE: MONEY, MYSTERY, AND MASTERY” will be at New Britain Museum of American Art, 56 Lexington St. in New Britain, until May 10. Details, hours and admission: www.nbmaa.org.