DAVID KRUGEL

After more than 20 years in the performing arts, David discovered his talent for painting. Now his works form part of several private collections in the United States, Netherlands and South Africa.

David considers himself an autodidact in that he has had no formal training or guidance in the art of painting, besides the basic arts lessons at school. At a young age he was very impressed by an encyclopedia of renaissance painters, and when asked what he would become later in life, always replied “artist painter”. David was a hyperactive kid, which spend his energy doing athletics, swimming, cycling and circus trapeze.
Only in 1988 when taking some time off and renovating a newly purchased apartment in South Africa, did David make his first painting.
He created a man’s profile on a piece of wood from the renovations and finished the portrait in under an hour, due to the fast drying industrial paint he used. Convinced that the outcome was a chance accident he didn’t paint again for over a year.
Asked by a friend to paint a portrait of a famous opera star, David agreed and realized that painting was taking a hold of him. He slowly progressed to oil paints and felt that a therapeutic calmness came over him molding and blending the pigment. A much sought after release from all the stress and physical challenges he was enduring from his profession as a dancer.
David’s painting therapy turned into a personal passion, which keeps being influenced and fueled by his continuing career as a performing artist.
David’s paintings are mostly figurative and portraiture.
“I have absolutely no secret message to convey in my works, they speak for themselves.”