Richard Haas (b. 1936) is a painter, printmaker and muralist celebrated for his monumental trompe-l’oeil paintings that transform architectural surfaces through optical illusion. Born in Spring Green, Wisconsin, near Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin, Haas developed an early fascination with architecture. He earned his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1959 and M.F.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1964. Initially working in abstraction and printmaking, Haas shifted toward architectural imagery after moving to New York in 168. His first outdoor mural, completed in SoHo in 1975, launched a career creating large-scale public artworks that use painted windows, columns and architectural details to challenge perceptions of space and history. His projects include murals for the Oregon Historical Society, Boston Architectural College and buildings throughout New York and Chicago. Haas was a Department of Art Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of California, Davis, in 1981. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1983 and has exhibited at the New York Historical Society and National Academy of Design. His work is held in major collections including the Museum of Modern Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art and National Gallery of Art.