Meet the artist - Anton Kilian

Meet the Artist 

Focus on Anton Kilian

 Anton Kilian - 18 February –

This month saw us welcoming Anton Kilian to the Art Gallery in A Pretty Talent.  Anton’s work has not been on display for long before one of his paintings was sold and he was extended an open invitation to display as many works as he wished to in the Gallery.  What is particularly fascinating about Anton’s style is his liberal use of colour.  He has an incredible talent for capturing the mood and emotion of his subjects, which enlivens the expressions on his portraits.  He then goes one step further by adding surprising splashes of colour to the paintings.  In the hands of a less skilful artist, this would detract from the work, but in Anton’s case it serves the purpose of underscoring what the portrait was already communicating.

Whilst it is certainly possible to see the brilliance of the artist in any one of his paintings, putting the paintings side by side and studying them in this manner, will establish this knowledge as an undeniable fact in the eyes and minds of the viewers.

                                                      

Status – R1200                  I Am – R1000                          Beauty – R1200

Growing up, Anton was one of those kids who used to do lots of pencil drawings when he was at school, but he never had any formal training in art.  After school he studied law and enjoyed 25 years in the legal fraternity, culminating in his becoming a practising advocate. In 2000 he finally decided to wave the stresses of the legal profession farewell and transformed himself into a businessman.

During all this time, his latent artistic talent kept nagging at him to be released and at 59, in 2013, he finally caved in and started exploring his natural talent.  “I decided time was running out … now or never …”

Anton went for 9 months of lessons with Wessel Coetsee, before deciding that he was ready to start painting his own way and developing his personal style. It was at this stage that he started experimenting with the marriage of bold colours and portraits, for which he is fast gaining fame, drawing his inspiration from the likes of Solly Smook, Lionel Smit and Jimmy Law.

Anton got married at the relative young age of 22 and is still married to that same young girl of 21.  They had four boys, persistently, but unsuccessfully trying for a girl.  Anton professes his love for each one of his sons openly, stating in no uncertain terms that he set it as a goal to be a loving, understanding and sensitive father to them.

The family home extends further than its human inhabitants though: “I could never understand the absence of pets in families.  I have always loved my cats and dogs, having two of each. Of the four, my blue-eyed-girl is a 1 year old rough collie.”

Before he took up painting, Anton explored the art of photography with the same passion he does everything else in life, investing in state of the art expensive equipment and attending numerous courses.  These days photography has to take a second seat to painting which has become his first love.  Painting relaxes him and leaves him with a sense of deep-seated satisfaction, whilst simultaneously becoming a means of self-expression.

Art collectors and enthusiasts should take note of this budding artist.  Being new on the art scene, Anton’s work is still very well priced, but I predict that this will not be the case for very much longer.  This artist is making fast strides in his new career.

Visit the shop at: www.aprettytalent.com

Visit Anton Kilian’s work in the Gallery at: http://aprettytalent.com/collections/gallery/products/anton-killian