George Baloghy b. 1950

George Baloghy was born in Budapest in 1950 and emigrated as a child refugee to New Zealand in 1957.  He is considered one of the foremost artists in New Zealand, frequently published and reviewed.  

Baloghy lived in Auckland since graduating from Elam School of Fine Arts in 1977, however now lives and works from his studio at Hahei, Coromandel Peninsula.   Over the past forty years his works have captured the history of Auckland City and suburbia – along with New Zealand landscapes and his “favourite place in the world” – Hahei.

Baloghy’s depictions of city landscapes, often painted with a quirky and ironic eye, could now be considered synonymous with Auckland’s visual identity.  His paintings feature a quiet humour and focus on all details of the landscape, from the spectacular to the mundane.  

His realism is unique in that it is not photographic likeness, but as he himself describes it, an “enhanced realism”. The distant details are sharper than they appear in real life, and the overall effect is slightly disconcerting.  This is achieved by the subtle editing of elements within the composition, so that distant hills might be brought closer, or the middle distance completely erased. Nevertheless, the scenes essentially remain faithful to real life and are usually instantly recognisable. 

Baloghy's scrupulous attention to detail challenges the viewer to engage with and explore the paintings, rather than merely glancing at mimetic reproductions of the landscape. His paintings are historic records, in that the scenes are highly specific in time and location and his most recent exhibition, ‘Urban Pastoral’ was held in ARTIS during April 2023.

ARTIS Gallery has been representing George Baloghy since 1993.