The artist and his works

Michael Groth has been painting and drawing since early childhood, and seriously since his late youth. He prefers to work in canvas and oil, only rarely using watercolours, which is unfortunate, and latest in acrylic. He is most interested in cityscapes and landscapes, which he singles out in his travels or selects in his home town.

Stylistically, his paintings have affinity to realism, naturalism and Impressionism. However, they do not easily lend themselves to categorisation in "isms". Although Michael addresses realism, visible reality is neither the primary force nor the sole defining factor of a work of art portrayed by an artist. On the other hand, he avoids softening his objects into atmospheric depictions; they remain visible as such. Reality is the main subject of his paintings especially if it is beautiful and pleasing to the eye. As a painter, he focuses his attention on the various effects of light and colour on the objects. His style is characterised by a certain effortlessness and exactness without losing itself too much in detail. He uses a palette full of glowing colours.

"For me, the act of painting itself has its own individual value. The work of art is simply lasting evidence. In keeping myself open to beauty, I attempt to empathise with each moment and manifestation of nature and paint what is seen. I am especially fascinated by the diversity of light phenomena and colour constellations and their expressions and moods. I would like to offer pleasing views and a bit of joie de vivre to the viewers of my paintings."