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Maciej Maga: Portrait Artist

Portrait artist Maciej Maga has painted everyone from the Pope to Chuck Norris.
By Ashleigh Falk |
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photography by Elizabeth Lavin


MY PASSION

What do Chuck Norris, Pope John Paul II, and President Ronald Reagan have in common? For one thing, each has had his portrait painted by Dallas artist Maciej Maga.

Since he began painting at age 15 in his native Poland, Maga has completed more than 800 oil portraits—nearly 160 of them in Dallas alone.

“I remember even 20 years back, people’s faces, their eyebrows, their nose, and their ears,” he says. “I can’t forget them.”

In addition to more standard portraits, the 52-year-old has developed his own unique, triptych style, painting a casual family portrait on the inside of the triptych and a more formal portrait “outside,” on its closed doors.

As a youngster in Poland, Maga spent his days in art museums and later attended the prestigious Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow.

Maga says his works have been featured alongside those of David Hockney and Pablo Picasso in private collections and museums throughout Europe. And, with the prices of some Magas ranging to $250,000, they can be just as expensive.

Though he’s been commissioned throughout the world, the painter says he calls Dallas home because the local art scene is becoming an increasingly integral part of the city.

Maga say he’s intent on creating art that will last beyond his lifetime. “You never know, you could die tomorrow,” he says.

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