Herald Journal Magazine, USA – Modern Day Michelangelo

Modern Day Michelangelo

In Europe, Rainer Maria Latzke is known as a modern-day Michelangelo — a master muralist whose works cost $100,000 to $300,000. With their blue-chip prices, his art was only available to the very wealthy, a reality that made Latzke uncomfortable. “I wanted to democratize the process,” he said. “Many people would like these kind of pieces but cannot afford them.” As computer graphics grew in power, Latzke got an idea. In 2000 he began working on software that allows anyone to design murals by selecting from thousands of motifs including birds, flowers and mountains. By 2008, Latzke had come up with a winning system titled FrescoMaster. On a screen “canvas” more than 2,500 different elements can be assembled to create new murals. The designs are then transferred in the artist’s studio on canvasses the exact size of the wall and attached on site in a procedure similar to wallpapering. FrescoMaster offers 13 different themes from Italian to Chinese, which allow clients to style their homes after palaces. The result is a painted vista that looks so real you could step into it. Latzke showed off one example that evoked a Tuscan garden, incorporating images of a peacock, butterflies, a large fountain and distant mountains. The flowers looked so fresh you could almost smell them. The style is called Trompe l’oeil, which means “deception of the eye.” “This opens up a vista in a room,” Latzke said. “You can build any landscape you want.” The FrescoMaster technique is already available through 70 dealers in Europe; now Latzke is branching out into the U.S. market. In August, the muralist took a position as an adjunct art professor at Utah State University, making Logan his permanent home, though he still travels to Europe regularly. At the school he met Michael D. Nelson, an experienced entrepreneur looking for his next project. Through their conversations, Dreamworlds was born. The company is the new headquarters for Latzke’s mural software, though subsidiaries are still operating in the United Kingdom, Austria and Germany. “Rainer is a pioneer,” Nelson said. “He is going the next step with this art form.” Nelson stressed that the FrescoMaster process is completely new. Though other companies will enlarge pictures or paintings for placement on a wall and call them murals, true murals account for “every window and protuberance” on that wall, Nelson said. Fresco master’s exactness makes all the difference, he explained. Next, Nelson and Latzke plan to allow other artists to explore mural painting by uploading their own images into the software. Other options are theme rooms, like a family theatre surrounded by old movie posters. Latzke hopes this will be a catalyst for the spread of mural art into homes and businesses. “I compare it to the printing press,” Latzke said. “Before the printing press, monks would spend years working on one book. They were very expensive. Now anyone can have books.” Rainer Maria Latzke’s history: Rainer Maria Latzke was born in Germany in 1950 as one of eight siblings. His parents were both artists and encouraged his natural artistic talents. He studied fine arts in Dusseldorf, and after completing his master’s degree, he traveled through Italy to study Renaissance painting. “I saw the frescos of Michelangelo and knew that’s what I’m meant to do,” he said. Latzke’s first mural was for a pizzeria in Germany; his pay was in pizza. Since those humble beginnings, he has been hired by a variety of clients throughout the world, including the five-star Istanbul hotel Kempinski, the Palace of Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates and for Daimler Benz (Mercedes Benz). by Kim Burgess December 19, 2008