The Danish artist Daniel Goldenberg is a painter of über-realistic cityscapes. Everyday details in a city, such as a rain puddle that someone just cycled through, a street corner or a detail to a building, are depicted in an almost creepy and realistic manner. You wonder how the painter managed to achieve an effect that can compete with the result of a photo lens. Time to get acquainted with this phenomenon of realistic painting.
 
Autodidact pur sang
Daniel Goldenberg (1960) has been one of the leading hyper-realistic painters in Denmark for many years. For his paintings he often chooses classical subjects, such as cities, seascapes and landscapes. His style of painting is based on the age-old techniques of the classical masters. An amazing detail is the fact that Goldenberg is an autodidact, although his earlier creative jobs allowed him to flourish his extraordinary talent as a realistic painter. For example, in the 1980s he worked as a background painter for the animated film Valhalla and later for the Zoological Museum in Copenhagen, where, in addition to large murals, he also made lifelike illustrations of plants and animals. The unrivaled realism and compositions of Daniel Goldenberg's paintings are testimony to his extraordinary mastery of technique plus an almost superhuman dose of patience.
 
Abandoned cityscape
We normally associate cities with hectic and crowded masses. But the scenes of Daniel Goldenberg show the city at its lonely moments. You can imagine that it is six o'clock in the morning, the city is still asleep. With a few pigeons, the streets are quiet and deserted. The city portraits of Daniel Goldenberg give an impression of space and silence instead of crowds and dynamics, which are so typical of the everyday cityscape.
 
In his recent works details from Copenhagen often play a central role, the city where he lives and works, and where he draws his daily inspiration from. In order to achieve the atmosphere that he has in mind, the perspective and the cut-out are the pillars on which the depicted is based. People, cars and other signs of life are left out of the picture as much as possible. Also, typical urban elements, such as electricity cables, billboards or other details that would add unnecessary stimuli to the painting, are deliberately omitted. What remains is an image of timelessness. Suggested light and shadow accents plus a subdued use of color contribute to an effect of space, tranquility and mysticism.
 
Magical atmosphere
Daniel Goldenberg wants to go one step further with his paintings than to where the eye reaches first. He tries to evoke a certain feeling from the viewer and create a magical aura, something he succeeds time after time. His works have a mystical impact, with a subdued but very expressive atmosphere that captivates everyone who looks at them.
 
Goldenberg himself says about his painting: "I strive to achieve a maximum degree of craftsmanship by combining the means of classical and realistic painting. I paint what I find aesthetically attractive or intriguing, and try to convey a feeling of underlying mystery. On the one hand, my work has been thought out and planned in precision, on the other hand, most choices, from making a basic recording to applying or leaving out details and the composition, are made intuitively. If it feels right, then there is that 'click', as if everything suddenly falls into place. For me, these are the most satisfying moments in the entire creative process. "
 


Are you also intrigued by the hyper realism of Daniel Goldenberg? In that case we would like to invite you to two interesting events at gallery Wildevuur.
 
On Sunday 18 March, Daniel Goldenberg and Johan Abeling will give an illuminating presentation on hyperrealism. During this unique afternoon both artists will give a personal explanation of their unprecedented realistic paintings and their methods and sources of inspiration.
 
And from 2 March to 22 April you can admire the paintings of artists such as Daniel Goldenberg during the exhibition ‘Realistically’, on the estate Hiemstrastate.