Once upon a time, there was encaustic painting, an ancient technique based on the use of colours mixed with wax through heat. The historian Pliny the Elder of ancient Rome, where encaustic painting enjoyed great popularity, described its methods of execution, specifying that it was devised with differences depending on the support to which it was applied, from wall to marble, from terracotta to ivory and even wood to enliven its polychrome. Over the centuries, the technique was also used in sculpture as a finishing touch, including by Canova to soften the bright white of the sculpted marble.
Michael Gavrieli began his artistic career right here, thunderstruck by this painting in which pigments are mixed with beeswax that acts as a binder, kept as a liquid inside a brazier and spread on the chosen support with a brush or spatula and then fixed whilst still hot with metal tools called cauteri. During our interview, he told us about his approach to art and the completely accidental beginnings of his new professional and life path: “My art journey is very different than any other artist. My interests were very far from art, but one day I met an art collector who showed me his collection of 300 paintings and strongly influenced me to start thinking about creating my own art. My wife found the encaustic technique online on the internet as a form of therapy for her and she asked me to try it, since the day I tried it, I fell in love and that’s how everything started. I set up my atelier and worked daily for hours there. I found my new passion and I love it.” He then goes on, prompted by the question about the possibility of passing this technique on to others by teaching it: “I was thinking of teaching about this technique online but there are many people doing it already and I don’t feel like a teacher and prefer to keep my unique style secret and only concentrate on my art journey.”
Michael Gavrieli’s story is like a rollercoaster, made up of ups and downs that alternate between one twist and another. He was born in 1982 under the communist regime in what was then Czechoslovakia into a very humble family, his relationship with his parents was anything but idyllic and as soon as he came of age he left home for Prague, where he started living alone with nothing and no support from anyone but himself. In the space of a few years, he managed to develop and grow several businesses, and consequently, he found himself living a life on the crest of a wave of economic prosperity. At this time, art was far outside his interests.
Towards the end of the 2010s, he began his dramatic downward curve and lost everything, ending up completely bankrupt and deciding to leave Prague for Alaska. After three months and a job offer, his visa did not arrive as it was supposed to and Gavrieli returned to his homeland completely broke. He spent some time at his parents’ house, even though he does not even speak to them, and scraped together some money again by working as a waiter until he took up a new business, running a rented pub. But his descent was yet to come to an end and, at the end of the summer, the pub burnt down along with his personal possessions as he both lived and worked there. “This was my worst period of my life and I nearly died, and I lost completely everything I had. During the worst times in life, they say that there will always be something good to come from it and I met my wife at this period, which changed my life for the better. I helped her change her life, and she helped me change mine. When I met her, she was broke after her divorce, but now she is one of the most visited spiritual healers in Europe, using her amazing gift whilst working with billionaire clients,” this is how Michael comments on this next phase of his life, the one in which he discovered his artistic vocation. “Since I was inspired by seeing the art collection, it was in my head how to start to create art. I found the breaking point and discovered my talent for creating and my passion for design and precious materials. I would never have guessed that I would have become an artist, but you never say never in life. When you find your passion and become driven by desire and goals, anything is possible in life.”
So he started to create his first pieces and, thanks to investor input, in 2018 he introduced the use of gold to create the Golden Phoenix, his most precious work. “I was able to switch my life from hitting rock bottom after losing everything to creating the world’s most valued encaustic technique painting. I had a vision, goals and ambition to create rare art with 24-carat gold. I was experimenting with different materials and working hard in the atelier: after almost a decade of experience, I met a guy who was selling gold, then I met an investor who loved the idea of a 24-carat painting and he invested money so I was able to create an entire 24-carat gold billionaire edition. It is one-of-a-kind luxury art that the world has never seen. A symbol of wealth and iconic status for individuals with a high net worth in the form of jewellery for walls. For the Golden Phoenix, it took me 750 hours of work with 200 grams of raw 24-carat gold material. This was a huge achievement for me!” Gavrieli continued the story of his artistic journey. “The entire billionaire edition is valued at one million euros and it’s not even for sale yet, just for exhibition so people can enjoy such a unique luxury experience.”
The subjects of his paintings are abstract and created following the flow of the inspiration of the moment. “The colour of my aura is white and people with this colour are very visionary, creative, and connected to the universe, so the energy from the universe is transferred via my feelings to the surfaces and that is how I work. I never know how the artwork will look as a final result: I am just in the flow of energy and create the art based on my feelings and my heart. That is why people feel a great positive energy from my art because it is universal.” He exhibits in Monaco, Luxembourg, Austria, Barcelona and at private events around Europe at which he creates artistic experiences for the participants. For Michael Gavrieli, the journey into art has only just begun and collaborations with luxury brands are taking shape, travelling between Monaco, Prague and Bratislava. Next year’s plans include a permanent move to the French Riviera in view of the growing international clientele there, for both him and his wife, and a collaboration with the Buddha Bar and other brands in negotiation.
“I have sold 73 original artworks to VIP clients around Europe without any gallery or art dealer support. Most of the artworks that I sold were based on clients seeing my work at my private gallery office in Bratislava. Some clients see my LinkedIn page or my YouTube channel and order a custom piece where they choose their favourite colours and let me use my creativity. I have recently shipped a work of art to New York and two to Monaco. My new future collaboration with global luxury brands will bring me closer to the right clients who will find out about my artwork and would like to buy one-of-a-kind pieces for their luxury homes,” the story concluded, looking to the imminent future.
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Article edited by Dafne Ambrosio
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