Everywhere in Between

By Remy Haynes

Don’t be confused, what you are seeing isn’t real. Is that two ants having sex? Is that squirrel’s tail actually wagging? Is Queen Elizabeth rocking out with an ape on stage with what looks like Madonna in sexy stilettos? Yes indeed, and we owe this beautiful chaos and delectable desert for our eyeballs to mixed media artist and painter, Antal Goldfinger.

How can I categorize you, I ask him during our interview, for reference? “Oh God, I don’t know. I don’t like to be boxed in. I’m both ends of the spectrum, and everywhere in between.”  Studying the old Dutch masters of the 17th century, he hails from Hungary where he studied painting early and a lot. Moving to the states, he studied more at the University of Washington. He can recite any well-known painterly technique if you ask, and his dew drops on his still life fruit are truly extraordinary but it’s the process of making his art that he likes to talk about most.

“We don’t own our own thoughts,” he says, referring to the accumulated knowledge we have by a certain age. “Everything has been done. There are no original ideas. We just play off of what we’ve learned, and our experiences and we create what feels good to us. A true expression of our being.”  

Antal’s obsession started early with the master painters of the Golden Age and has morphed into Batman and Marilyn Monroe driving down Route 66 in a righteous convertible. This trajectory may not have followed a typical path but he’s happy for all the accumulated knowledge that influences his art today. “IThe French and Dutch would never bridge the gap to share knowledge. All that knowledge is integrated into my hands. They were the best.”

Living in Denver, Colorado Antal has worked with online art dealer American Design Limited for over 20 years. He has the luxury of choosing who physically carries his work, which are several galleries right now. His breathtaking surreal oil paintings of flowers and other still lives are still in circulation and commanding a hefty price tag. “I don’t work as much with oils now. I do when there’s a use for it. Antal is currently romancing Photoshop and the internet for his latest creations, mentioning the immediacy of results as a sexy enticement. “Using software and photography as some of my tools right now, I see it instantly. If I mess up there’s always the back button.”

I ask him to describe a photo realistic rendering of a giraffe curled up in what looks like a dinosaur egg floating on the open water. “Whether you master a violin or photoshop. As an artist, you master your tools. You have to figure out how to use it, just like any other tool. That digital rendering of the giraffe has over 200 layers.” The famous symphony #5 by Ludwig Beethoven was said to have taken over a year to complete. Some of Antal’s oils took him over two years to complete. The immediacy of this new tool allows him to free up months if not years to keep creating new work and being inspired again.

Where the first half of Antal’s career was dedicated to oils and more traditional techniques, this second half is more about fun, use of iconic imagery and a mish mash of graffiti and stencil work. He utilizes some acrylic now, when the piece calls for it and resin to create that glassy, shiny look he’s always liked. “We used to wet sand the canvas several times before we primed and painted on it,” he explains, “because you cannot do fine brush work on regular canvas. This process could take over a month and would make the canvas like glass.” Antal is proud to say his oil work was done on the same Belgian linen that Leonardo preferred for the Mona Lisa and he still uses Old Holland paint, from the oldest paint factory in the world.

These traditional methods and techniques matter to Antal and it shows. His detailed oil work looks so realistic your mind will be tricked into thinking it’s a photograph. One that stands out is ‘Verdant,’ a limited edition floral still life standing at only 12” X 16,” but showing extraordinary shading and balance of opposing colors. If you look closely, you may find a finch judging you or a ladybug laughing. One gallery owner described his style this way:

“His magical personal style is achieved through combining classical balance of form and space with the spontaneous execution of color. He possesses a strong desire to surpass the standard expectations regarding limited edition prints and insists on adding a ‘little original’ to every one of them, making them each a one-of-a-kind treasure.”  

From talk of oils, we move onto some of his sculpture work, in particular a piece called, ‘Impossible.’ So, you’re a sculpture artist too, I say. “Oh no, not in the slightest. He explains how that piece took a lot of knowledge and expertise from a lot of different artists to make it happen. “I completed a lot of artistical challenges I set for myself in my 30’s. I had a generous amount of arrogance back then. If someone told me I couldn’t do something, I definitely had to do it.”  After four years and hiring two Hungarian athletes from the Olympic team to recreate the pose he had envisioned before the sculpture could take shape, this memorable bronze piece was completed and sold to the owner of the tea trade in India for almost $100K.  

Still creating from the heart, Antal survived the recession of 2008, which changed what artists could command for their work and several health ailments from over working and over participating in life’s pleasures. Antal is now “100 green” and ready for new beginnings.  “An artist should never paint for money; they must paint from what is in their heart. My appetite for challenges is growing and I’m excited to be talking with the Winn Slavin Gallery about collaborating and bringing my work to Beverly Hills.” Well, we can’t wait to see what that squirrel does next.