"Onions" Painting

EGMONT HARTWIG IS A DUTCH PAINTER BASED IN DORNBIRN, AUSTRIA. HIS WORK FOCUSES ON FIGURATIVE OIL PAINTING IN A CLASSICAL STYLE WITH CONTEMPORARY SUBJECT MATTER.

Realism is not merely a depiction of reality/ the world around us, it’s a search for the ‘real’. The surface of things is superficial, realism is an exploration of the subtext to search for an approximation of the ‘real’. Approximation, while we could never completely comprehend the elusive essence of things. The objects we see/ I paint are like a connotation, free to interpret and allegorize. With these objects/ ideas I construe my narrative. The motives I use are not the usual suspects of the still life Metier, they do have to have a certain depth that resonates with my recurring and ever more focused concepts. Concepts like: the passage of time, the temporary, obscurement, just to name a few.
The surface of the painting is paramount, I tend to switch between a more precise and a more painterly style as of late, detail remains a key aspect in both instances. My work tends to be quite deliberate, nuanced and calm, I use a limited palette and find as many nuances as possible there in. Balance in the amount of contrast is an important departing point, contrast not just in brightness but in tonality, shape, color et cetera. Despite appearances I do not strive for perfection, photorealism or hyperrealism. It’s more an investigation into form that gets out of hand on a regular basis. Precision is often misconstrued. I see it as a means to comprehend the object, not slavishly copying a photograph but rather understanding the intricacies of the subject, painted from life. All this in order to gain the freedom to paint from memory that which I see in my minds eye. Some of my more realistic paintings have been painted without the use of any reference material.
The calmness in my paintings is quite often broken by some sort of damage. I utilize damage in my work as an addition that deepens the objects into something broader or even grander. Damage makes something more whole, a contradiction, I know. It’s like people, all are damaged yet it makes them more complex and in my eyes more complete and unique. Damage as a necessity of the human condition if you will.
I paint exclusively with oil paint. I use classical techniques and materials, I do make a lot of the materials myself (mediums, paints) to ensure I have the best possible materials without fillers and or other additives.