John Frederick Peto was an American trompe-l'œil painter who was long forgotten until his paintings were rediscovered along with those of fellow trompe-l'œil artist William Harnett.

Trompe-l'œil is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a two-dimensional surface. Trompe l'œil, which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving painted objects or spaces as real. Forced perspective is a related illusion in architecture.