I have many celebrities, heads of states and other VIPs that purchased my work at galleries. But in terms of personal interaction, probably an audience with Pope Benedict XVI was most memorable. It was very official, in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, with a huge crowd in attendance and blessings of my work by the Pope.
As a part of our series about “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became An Artist” I had the pleasure of interviewing Tomasz Rut.
Spanning over three decades of the artistic pursuit of excellence, the creative output of Tomasz Rut is truly stunning and exceptional in scale and diversity. Aside from his mainstream style of classically inspired figurative artwork — included in the Vatican Collection, published in two retrospective, hard-cover books and collected by numerous celebrities — Tomasz has embraced a multitude of other art forms and designs, demonstrating his relentless passion for aesthetics in all aspects of artistic expression. The artwork Rut has been creating in the last years encompasses a wide variety of styles and mediums which, apart from realistic rendition, have no or very little resemblance to his Classical imagery. Case in point — the playful series of dreamt up “Be Different” animals, rendered in pastel on paper or cleverly titled “Classics United” in watercolor on paper, which contrasts consumer culture with echoes of Antiquity.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I grew up in Warsaw, Poland at the time the country was still in the communist grip. My mother was a tapestry artist and art teacher, my father an Olympic athlete, turned engineer. They split up when I was 7 and while fighting, both demanded loyalty which was a big shock for me. This ended up in court and a big fight over my custody. But not all my childhood memories were bad. I remember lots of carefree traveling with my mother and good times visiting my grandparents in the countryside.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
According to my parents, I started drawing before I could even speak. All my childhood was filled with studying my mother’s art book collection and imaginary images I created with crayons, markers or pens on paper. Even at schools where instead of listening to teachers and good grades I brought home notebooks full of drawings. So, my mother, being an artist, collected these drawings, framed them and put together a solo show for me at the ripe age of 11, with a mention in Warsaw Daily. And I think this event made me realize that this is the path I wanted to follow. And that was a big disappointment to my father who wanted me to follow his successes as an athlete.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Much later, after I moved to US, got married and started painting professionally, I was the worst critic of my own work. Nothing seems good enough for me. So, my wife took one of my “unfinished” paintings off the wall when I wasn’t at the studio and send it off to a gallery where it sold immediately. And from that day on, I believe that it’s not my job to evaluate whether my artwork is good, There’s no such thing as absolute perfection. It’s only the collector that can decide if he wants it or not.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
I’ve done over a thousand of paintings in my Classical style that most of my collectors are familiar with. I needed a change. Today, I’m working on many new, more contemporary genres that I call collectively Pop-realism. These include crumpled photos, crushed cans, imaginary animals and even some rodeo images. I group them in collections, all available at my website and I hope that they appeal to a larger audience.
Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?
I have many celebrities, heads of states and other VIPs that purchased my work at galleries. But in terms of personal interaction, probably an audience with Pope Benedict XVI was most memorable. It was very official, in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, with a huge crowd in attendance and blessings of my work by the Pope.
Another funny story was Brittney Spears, who took at least 5 selfies of herself in different outfits in front of my painting “Luminaris”. The painting is of a musician inspired by an angel. I guess she really found a strong connection to my work.
Where do you draw inspiration from? Can you share a story about that?
Inspiration abounds. I must limit myself in what I paint as I can only do so much and put other projects on hold. I don’ t struggle to get inspired. It just comes to me with my eyes open. When I look at a can, I imagine it twisted, when I look at a person, I imagine him or her in a pose that projects beauty, when I look at nature, I want to paint a flower. My creative process starts with, let’s say buying a can of Coca-Cola at a store. Then, at home I squash that empty can, sometimes under my car, and paint the result.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Difficult question. But I think just by the fact that collectors look at or purchase my work, I contribute to bringing about some betterment in them. And if they can cherish something, they become more sane and less dramatizing towards their environment, and my mission is accomplished.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why?
1 . Never be your own critic. If it’s good for the collector, it’s good enough.
2. Be tolerant. Other people’s opinions have nothing to do with you — Avoid suppressive people.
3 . Absolute perfection is not attainable.
4 . Be a professional, don’t dabble in anything you do.
5 . Never quit and be true to your own goals.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
A movement for more sanity and less hostility on our planet.
We have been blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she just might see this.
Elon Musk. His ideas and actions are very commendable, and he seems a good companion for lunch.
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
https://www.facebook.com/tomaszrutartist/
https://twitter.com/TRUT_Official
https://www.instagram.com/tomaszrutofficial/?hl=en
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
Tomasz Rut: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became An Artist was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.