25+ Coolest, Most Expensive Optical Illusions Of All Time

Year: 2003 
Artist: Akiyoshi Kitaoka (Inspired By)

This image was inspired by a famous illusion known as “Rotating Snakes,” which was created by Akiyoshi Kitaoka in 2003. When you look at the circles in this picture, they appear to be moving, but, in reality, they are still.

Swirling Still Circles @businessinsider/Pinterest

This is an example of peripheral drift illusion, where we see still images as moving ones. When you focus on one part of the image instead of its entirety, you’ll notice that these circles quickly stop “spinning.” 

Year: 1968 
Artist: Jerry Dior 

Most of us are familiar with the MLB logo, which appears to feature a man in mid-swing. But, did you know that there is a subtle optical illusion hidden in this famous image? It was designed by Jerry Dior, who made it an optical illusion on purpose.

The MLB Logo @target/Pinterest

Though the batter is mid-swing, you can’t tell whether his back is turned or if he is facing the viewer. This logo came back into question in 2022, when @opticalillusionss on Instagram posted it with the caption, “Is the batter…batting right-handed or left-handed?” What do you think?

Year: 2010s 
Artist: Karen Castaneda and Felipe Salazar 

At first glance, this might seem like a normal newspaper, but you realize that there is a hidden, three-dimensional kitchen in the center after staring at it for a minute. This pic was created by graphic designer Karen Castaneda and creative director Felipe Salazar.

The Hidden 3D Kitchen @businessinsider/Pinterest

The pair turned a newspaper into an advertisement for HiperCentro Corona Supermarket. The designers manipulated the text of the paper to look like a 3D kitchen, adding an illusion of depth to the completely flat paper.

Year: 2013 
Artist: Luca Parmitano

Luca Parmitano, a European Space Agency astronaut, posted this photo on X. He took the picture, which features sand dunes, in 2013, but the dunes had a unique angle to them that made them look like pits, not mounds.

Look At It Upside Down To See The Illusion Disappear @businessinsider/Pinterest

This is easily solved when you look at the picture upside-down; the pits turn to dunes easily after that. This illusion was caused by the brain thinking the sun was casting shadows from the upper-right, 1:00 position when it was actually casting shadows from the opposite side, the upper-left.

Year: 1926 
Artist: Friedrich Sander

Measure it out yourself if you don’t believe us. This is Sander’s Parallelogram, also known as the Sander illusion. The blue diagonal line to the left might look longer than the one on the right, but the two are the same size.

The Two Blue Lines Are The Same Size @businessinsider/Pinterest

Friedrich Sander discovered this illusion decades ago, and it has puzzled people ever since. The illusion’s effect is hard to shake, as the diagonal left line appears, wrongly, to look so much longer than the one to the right. 

Year: 2016 
Artist: u/waterhauler/Reddit 

Can you spot the cat in this image? Hint: it’s hidden in plain sight. This photo had tons of people racking their brains in 2016, when it was posted to Reddit via u/waterhauler. The tan-colored cat blends in well with the pile of wood.

Spot The Cat @businessinsider/Pinterest

Still can’t figure it out? The cat is located in the top middle of the photo. He’s laying atop a stack of wood having a nap, as cats love to do. As one Redditor said, finding the cat “took entirely too long.”

Year: 2015 
Artist: swiked/Tumblr 

But of course, we couldn’t have a list of famous optical illusions without including The Dress. In 2015, debate over whether this dress was black and blue or white and gold broke the Internet and had everyone arguing.

The Dress That Broke The Internet @businessinsider/Pinterest

Both sides were convinced they were right, and the pic generated millions of online articles, comments, and even peer-reviewed analyses. In the end, this Roman Originals dress ($58) was deemed black and blue, the confusion caused by differences in how our individual brains process light. 

Year: 2016
Artist: dolansmalik/X 

Remember “The Dress” debate? This was a smaller version of that, as it had people talking about whether this shoe was white and pink or teal and gray. Just like the “Dress” pic, this photo was taken in poor lighting.

Pink and White or Teal and Gray? @businessinsider/Pinterest

The shoe is pink and white (it’s a Vans Ward Lo Sneaker in Blush, $55), but the bad lighting of the photo messed with our brains’ perception. The perception of the color of the Vans depends on your personal sensitivity to lighting.

Year: 1861 
Artist: Ewald Hering 

Do these red lines look like they are bending outward? That’s because your brain has fallen for the classic Hering Illusion, discovered in 1861 by Ewald Hering, a German psychologist. The lines are actually totally straight.

The Red Lines Are NOT Bending @businessinsider/Pinterest

When two straight lines are in front of a radial background, they look like they are bowing outward. When you look more closely, you can see that that is just your brain playing a trick on you; the lines are parallel. 

Year: 1955 
Artist: Gaetano Kanizsa 

This picture features what is known as a Kanizsa Triangle, named after Gaetano Kanizsa. This illusion was created in 1955, and the word “triangle” is a misnomer, as there are actually no complete, full triangles in this image.

This Picture Has NO Triangles @businessinsider/Pinterest

Your brain fills in the gaps that the line segments and black circles create, assuming, thanks to the “Phantom Edge Phenomenon,” that there is a big triangle there. The brain makes the triangle through suggestion, essentially. 

Year: 1953 
Artist: M.C. Escher 

You’ve seen this picture before, as it is one of the most famous optical illusions of all time. Titled “Relativity,” this image was printed in 1953. The structure has seven stairways that can be used by people using various gravity sources.

M.C. Escher's Famous Stairs @etsy/Pinterest

The result is an interesting phenomenon, with people climbing up and down staircases that seem to go both ways. As for this picture’s value, a lithograph print of it sold at auction in 2018 for $92,500, a seemingly low price for such an iconic, famous image. 

Year: 1900 
Artist: Joseph Jastrow (Made Famous By)

Joseph Jastrow, a psychologist known for his inventions in experimental psychology (some would say notorious for them, actually), used this image, which features a duck and a rabbit, depending on how you look at it, in his studies.

Duck or Rabbit? @businessinsider/Pinterest

First published in a German magazine, what you see when you look at this picture for the first time might correlate with psychological, social, and biological factors. For example, Swiss people looking at this image usually see a bird or duck during October and a bunny during Easter, according to one study.

Year: Mid-Late 1900s 
Artist: Robert Gonsalves 

If you are a fan of magical realism, Robert Gonsalves, an artist, could be of interest to you. This picture features one of his paintings, in which you see a cityscape or curtains, depending on the way in which you look at it.

Magical Realism @imgur/Pinterest

Gonsalves’ style is similar to that of Magritte or Dali, but Gonsalves’ paintings aren’t surrealistic. His images are purposefully planned, a result of conscious thought, and they use illusionist devices to mess with the viewer’s head (in a good way).   

Year: 2018 
Artist: Unconfirmed 

This tattoo had to cost at least a few thousand, and this person gets to walk around with an optical illusion inked on their arm for the rest of their life—not a bad deal. This tat went viral in 2018, though it’s not clear who the tattoo artist was.

Optical Illusion Tattoo @businessinsider/Pinterest

The tattoo’s unique design creates an illusion known as “infinite depth,” placing smaller rectangles inside the spiral. This spiral looks like a never-ending hole, and the ink is sure to draw attention from anyone who sees it.