Chantourné Paintings. Chantourné comes from the French chantourner, to cut out with a fretsaw.  It is a term for a picture which has been cut out along its outline and then  painted in a lifelike manner. These kind  of trompe-l'oeil paintings were popular in the 1600s. Mundane objects were depicted in this way and then placed in domestic situations to create a visual joke, perhaps a shoe in a corner or  maybe foodstuffs in the pantry. Another popular motif was the artist's easel with a painting, sketches and the palette as painted by Antonio Forbera in 1686 and now in Musée Calvet in Avignon. Another chantourné easel was painted by Cornelius Gijsbrechts around 1670 and is now in Statens Museum for Kunst (the National Art Museum) in Copenhagen. Ulf Greder's paintings are not painted to deceive. The cutting away of anything inessential is a distillation process, concentrating the expressiveness of the picture. It also gives the picture a third dimension. Unlike his more illustrious forebears, Ulf paints the pictures before he carve them out. The pictures are painted on very thin board which he makes of epoxy re-inforced plywood. Once the painting is finished the cutting out commences. It is a delicate process since the smallest mistake would ruin the painting. After the cutting out the back of the picture is straddled to prevent any warping.