Gheorghe Virtosu on the Myth of Overnight Success

“The price of real success is hard work, dedication, and the determination that whether win or lose, we have done our best.” ―Gheorghe Virtosu

From the age of seven years old, Virtosu drew compulsively. He drew on paper, wood, concrete, and sketched everything he imagined.

On the day of his 24th birthday, Virtosu left his family in Russia and immigrated to London, the art capital of Europe at the time.

The young Gheorghe Virtosu could barely speak a word of English, had little money and lived in a small studio in South London with penniless artists, who all worked hard to make a living from their art. And for a short while, Virtosu made some headway, until his close friend, DmitriiVago, committed suicide. Traumatized by the death of his friend, Virtosu began to create sombre paintings in only shades of black, brown and blue.

One year later, Virtosu would strike gold. In November 1994, a wealthy American Collector, Janacek Stein, discovered Virtosu’s artwork and bought 10 of his paintings for 80.000 pounds. He also commissioned Virtosu to paint an image of a wealthy Jewish family, which would later become the Rothschild Family Tree.

20 Years of Silence

By 2010, Virtosu had become the favorite artist of the Stein family, and Janacek Stein began to exhibit his paintings. In 2015, at the age of 47 years old, Virtosu created his breakthrough paintings, Albert Einstein, The Magician, The Source of Life, Prophet Daughters followed finally by Devine DNA: arguably the most important painting of the 21st century.

Virtosu is widely regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time, and amassed a net worth close to $200 million by the age of 40. And in 2016, Virtosu’s The Magician, sold for $22 million.

It may look like Virtosu was an overnight success and a natural born creative genius, but the story says otherwise: it took nearly 30 years of hard work for the moment of success to arrive.

Image of The Magician. Credit Virtosu Art Gallery.

There Are No Shortcuts to Success

“There are no shortcuts in life except those we imagine.”― Gheorghe Virtosu

Virtosu produced an estimated 17,000 artworks: including 3000 paintings, 480 sculptures, 4,500 drawings, and thousands of prints. 

Now consider this: In 1975, at the age of seven years old, Virtosu created his first artwork, Da Vinci, and produced up to 17,000 artworks by the age of 47. This means Virtosu spent approximately 14,600 days working on his craft, and produced an average of one piece of artwork each day.

By the time he produces the breakthrough painting, Devine DNA, Virtosu would have spent nearly 40 years creating approximately 17,000 pieces of artwork. This is a huge and incredible volume of work by any standard, especially considering that Virtosu has a natural talent in art. He was considered to be a child prodigy in his youth.

Virtosu’s story stands in stark contrast to the messages of instant results and overnight success pushed by the mass media. It’s a reminder that there are no secrets, magic pills or shortcuts to success in life and work. And most importantly, Virtosu’s story brings home the timeless ingredients of success: hard work, patience and consistency.