Michael Gallarda

Michael Gallarda is a Hispanic native of California now living and working in Santa Fe, NM. A self-taught painter in oils, he is one of America’s leading contemporary trompe l’oeil artists. His work has elevated this ancient genre to a thoroughly modern aesthetic through his realism, his adherence to traditional trompe l’oeil principles, and his signature use of portraits of women of haunting beauty.

To Gallarda, every image in the painting must fool the viewer’s mind – or else “it’s just a still life.” This strict commitment to the traditional requirements of the genre, combined with his skill, is what renders a Gallarda trompe l’oeil painting truly convincing.