MICHAEL BERGT

“As primarily an egg tempera artist, Natural Pigments has become my source for not only traditional pigments, but also all the materials I use to prepare traditional chalk grounds, wax varnishing, gold leafing supplies, and in-depth information on conservation, historical practices and sources for many drawing materials.”


ABOUT THE ARTIST

Michael Bergt (b. 1956) is a mid-career artist who has staged multiple solo exhibitions in major cities worldwide, including New York, San Francisco, Santa Fe, and abroad. Other exhibits include: The Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, New York; Evansville Museum of Arts, Indiana; Chapel Art Center, St. Anselm College, New Hampshire; Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Michigan: and St. Johns College, Santa Fe.

Michael Bergt is a self-taught artist who began as a watercolor pattern painter, and eventually emerged as an accomplished sculptor and egg-tempera artist in the style of Paul Cadmus. Bergt approached Cadmus in the early 1980s to learn more about the egg-tempera medium and eventually forged a strong friendship with the legendary master.

Michael Bergt sculpts and paints figures from life as well as his fertile imagination. His mark making is delicate and precise, while his palette is bold and exaggerated. Bergt often uses mythology as a reference points in his handling of contemporary subject matter. He has mastered egg-tempera, and is now leading a nationwide effort to call attention to this oft forgotten medium, The Society of Tempera Painters.

Bergt's works are highly prized by knowledgeable collectors and have been lauded by art critics and art historians on frequent occasions. His images are compelling, conveying a wry sense of humor with political and social narratives worthy of note.


ARTIST STATEMENT

Michael Bergt has been in deep dialogue with art history over the course of his more than thirty-year career. Working across drawing, sculpture, and primarily egg tempera painting, Bergt has engaged art's long history of grappling with representational and abstract sensibilities.

Inspired by early Renaissance classical mythology, and other diverse religious and spiritual imagery, his artwork represents his own play with expression and interpretation of the contemporary human condition. While grounded in these art historical and visual traditions, Bergt also profoundly breaks from these as he creates his own cast of mythic characters with their own poetic inclinations and relationships informed by modern dialogues around pressing topics such as gender and sexuality."

Michael Bergt co-founded the Society of Tempera painters and served as the president for twelve years. He also teaches egg tempera for the Rome Workshops during the summer. Bergt resides in Santa Fe, NM, and is represented by NuArt Gallery in Santa Fe and his works can be seen at www.mbergt.com.


MICHAEL BERGT ON NATURAL PIGMENTS

As primarily an egg tempera artist, Natural Pigments has become my source for not only traditional pigments, but also all the materials I use to prepare traditional chalk grounds, wax varnishing, gold leafing supplies, and in-depth information on conservation, historical practices and sources for many drawing materials. George’s interest not only in materials, but in how an artist works, the history of traditional practices, and ways to better construct an artwork are invaluable. I’ve known George for over thirty years, and I’m amazed not only with the depth and breath of his knowledge, but also his willingness to share and help artists of all disciplines. I trust when I buy a product from Natural Pigments that George has researched the quality and archival nature of the product, or simply how an artist might find such a product useful.

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