Brief Bio



With the intrigue of an M.C. Escher drawing and the richness of a Chris Van Allsburg painting, renowned Canadian artist Rob Gonsalves depicts that time between sleep and wakefulness, creating a breathtaking, visual exploration of imagination and possibility that encourages us to think past the boundaries of everyday life, and see the possibilities beyond.



His imagery invites the viewer to move past reality into a somewhat surreal depiction of what fantasy and imagination could be. In each of his paintings, what appears to be becomes something else. The supports of a train bridge become acrobats balanced on shoulders. A stately home in autumn is also a tree house being constructed by children. A child playing with a toy train sees a real train coming through the archway in his living room. Children bouncing on beds take off in flight above a patchwork landscape. A violinist sitting on a porch plays music to tall sunflowers which, on closer look become leafy people whose faces are in a sleepy trance.



Artist Rob Gonsalves was born in Toronto in 1959. During his childhood, he developed an interest in drawing from imagination using various media. By age 12, his awareness of architecture grew as he learned perspective techniques and first began to paint renderings of imagined buildings.



After an introduction to artist Dali, Gonsalves began his first surrealist paintings. The "magic realism" approach of Magritte along with the precise perspective illusions of Escher came to be influences in his future work. In his post college years, Gonsalves worked full time as an architect, also painting trompe l'oeil murals and theatre sets.



Although Gonsalves' work may appear to be surrealistic, it differs in that the images are deliberately planned and result from conscious thought. Ideas are largely generated by the external world and involve recognizable human activities, using carefully planned illusionist devices. Gonsalves injects a sense of magic into realistic scenes. As a result, the term "magic realism" describes his work accurately. His work is an attempt to represent human beings' desire to believe in the impossible.





Gonsalves Books



In 2003, Simon and Schuster published the Gonsalves-illustrated book Imagine A Night . A tremendous inspiration to imagination the book is the best gift you could give to anyone of any age. It is only $19.99 at Saper Galleries. You can order your copy by contacting us now via e-mail or phone. We also have in stock Simon and Schuster's Imagine A Day , illustrating many more Rob Gonsalves paintings. It is also $19.99. On the cover is Castle on A Cliff (shown above and available for acquisition here). The third book is Imagine A Place , at $19.99. Released in September 2015 is the newest book, Imagine A World, at only $17.99.



You may want to buy all four books for your library (at $77.96 for all four plus shipping) and additional ones as gifts! Shipping outside of the United States could cost $50 or more.



Imagine a Night has these 16 pictures in it (shown above): Cold Comfort, Bedtime Aviation, Ladies of the Lake, Astral Projections, House by the Railroad, Listening Fields, A Change of Scenery, Medieval Moonlight, New Moon Eclipsed, Woods Within, White Blanket, and five others.



Imagine a Day has these 17 pictures in it: Sun Sets Sails, On the Upswing, Table Top Towers, Written Worlds, Tributaries, Still Waters, Castles on the Cliff, Tree House in Autumn, Wilderness Gothic, Flight Plan, Unfinished Puzzle, Acrobatic Engineering, and five others.



Imagine a Place has these 17 pictures in it: Flood Fences (also on the cover), For the Birds, Cathedral of Commerce, Stepping Stones, Nocturnal Skating, Doll's Dreamhouse, Roots and Wings, Spring Skiing, Time Places, Aquatic Mountaineering, The Library, Great Expectations, The Dancing Wind, Chess Master, Making Waves, and two others.



Imagine a World has these 18 pictures in it: Aspiring Acrobats (also on the cover), Night Light, Fall Color Flies, Performer and His Public , Alpine Navigation, As Above So Below, Towers of Knowledge, Light Flurries, A Change of Scenery 2 (Making Mountains), Chalkboard Universe, Pulling Strings, Sweet City, Beyond the Reef, Waterlogged, The Space Between Words, Water Dancing, Sailing Islands, and Phenomenon of Floating.



Enjoy these haunting, yet compelling images at Saper Galleries where you will be transported from reality to a world where nothing is quite as it seems. All the images shown above are displayed and available for immediate acquisition.



