Daniel Gerhartz was born in Wisconsin in 1965. He still lives in his home state and raised five children there with his wife Jennifer. His interest in art piqued at an early age when a teenage friend suggested they spend one rainy afternoon drawing. Enter Daniel’s studio today and you will see canvases–finished and unfinished–lining the walls along with paints, brushes and a palette flanking an enormous wooden easel which holds his latest work in progress. His workspace reflects his style of Realism that traces its origins to the great figurative and portrait painters of the late 1800s.Classically trained at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, Gerhartz possesses effortless technical facility for painting and a deep, abiding kinship to the traditional artists from the late 19th century.

Gerhartz’s paintings are not portraits per se, but rather vignettes or archetypes of maternal love, childhood simplicity or grandfatherly affection, often evoking an earlier and more humble way of life. Daniel finds inspiration and meaning in long-standing ideas about human existence, the beauty of the simple and the depth of family relationships. "My goal is to effectively record the richness of our human experience, the contrasts between life and death, the dance and dirge, the beautiful and common, joy and sorrow, hope and despair while, in the end, offering a message of hope and pointing the viewer to the eternal. As I paint my subjects from life and have the privilege of studying the awe inspiring breadth and depth of the beauty of the created world, it is humbling to ponder the greatness of our Creator."

Daniel feels Johann Sebastian Bach said it well as he signed his work with the Latin phrase, “Soli Deo Gloria,” meaning “To God alone be the glory.”

Daniel's paintings have won many prestigious awards and are in art collections worldwide

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