"Commodore Horak's architectural background, as well as his yacht design experience, is reflected with great power in most of his work, with great realism, often with unsuspected or initially undetected detail.  The man who had survived two hurricanes on the ocean is an incurable romantic, influenced by his life-long symbiosis with the sea.  This is clearly visible in his work, even the few canvases not related to water, in some way.  The soft tones, gentle glow, alternated with opposing choices of the values of his palette produce wonderful sensations, ranging from feelings of indescriptible peace to uncontrollable fear of the destructive forces of climatic disasters depicted in his paintings."

R. F. Montes
EL CLARIN
Buenos Aires, 1996

"His talent, his professional formation, his experience in design and construction of sailing yachts, his avant-garde designs in architecture, crystallized during a series of strong experiences to produce magnificent works which transmit all those experiences.  The BLUE RADIO NETWORK of Spanish language described the hyperrealism of Horak as a collection of impressive works generated not only on the visual but also sensorial and acoustic levels.  The public can feel the taste and the smell of salty air in the marine themes and perceives the wonderful sounds of the nature. Horak submerges in visual arts with all his intensity, with total dedication, with all the recourses at his reach.

This power is peripherally present in all his works, even in the few canvasses not related to the water.  Such dynamics is present in his soft palette, sometimes with gentle tones, at others with violent contrasts.  His works transmit intense states of the mind which create a total identification with the natural elements."

Manuel F. Salabarria
Audición "AMERICA"
Miami, 1998

"George Horak, an expert sailor, passionate competitor in ocean races, and currently the Commodore of the Miami Sailing Club, survived two hurricanes on the ocean, one of them intentionally and alone in an effort to save from a certain destruction an antique yacht.  Thus he became one of the very few who survived on the ocean the tremendous forces of hurricane Andrew in 1992, the greatest natural disaster in the history of USA, with winds exceeding 160 knots.
This violent experience produced a decisive reaction.  It made him to re-examine his life and review his objectives.  And so in 1995 he could not resist the growing necessity to return to painting.  He entered the Florida International University, where he continues to work to date with the Director of Visual Arts and renowned American painter James M. Couper.  He transferred his intense dedication to his architectural career to an equally passionate concentration in visual arts.  After an experimental period with different media, Horak concentrated on oils as the element of his preference.

In this new "tack" of his life, he picked up where he left off years ago and almost instantaneously became an attraction of the resurrection of the marine themes. He began an uninterrupted series of exhibitions showing his work.
Horak is a contemporary phenomenon. He refuses to be subject to certain customs or conventionalisms. His posture often generates a challenge, showing simultaneously a clear ability of persuasion. One thing is certain. The public cannot stay passive in front of his works, which demand an almost instantaneous decision. A declaration of criticism or admiration. There seems to be no middle way about evaluating his creations. He admits he rather likes this clearly defined sensation, since the grays do not seem to describe him, nor his works.

GEORGE J. HORAK transmits with a great power not only intense emotions and impacting images, but also achieves to attach to his works exceptional suggestions of subliminal sounds.  "Personally I think Mr. George J. Horak is a great artist and an extraordinary human being"."

Analia Lucero
LA OPINION
May 1999

 "...... the works of Horak are like a set of impressions created not only on visual levels, but also affecting senses and sounds.  The sensitive public feels torn by the taste and smell of salt in his marine themes and perceives the wonderful sounds of the nature.  Horak submerges us in his visual arts with all his intensity, with total dedication, with all the recourses at his reach."

Sassy Alfaro
RADIO BLUE NETWORK OF MIAMI
1999, Miami, Florida

"There are few persons who are capable of combining their passions and converting them into the work of their life.  George Horak is a lover of the sea with a soul of a painter.  The marine themes are not frequently seen and it is the first impact which attracts attention to his works, the second, and with a much greater force still, is the sensation the artist knows his theme intimately, to a point where the observer feels the dampness, the taste of the salt and the incessant sound of the waves, without ever having to travel to a sea shore.

The power of the sea, capable of affecting all sensations contained within a person, from the deepest sense of tranquility to the total panic of destruction, can be experienced in Horak's works.  He controls us with his values and his convincing brush strokes.  He is a captain who takes us on a trip with a round-trip fare, yet only when one really desires to return.  The passage with George Horak never ends, because of the immensity of the oceans."

Carmen Maria Aguirre Dagen
DIARIO DE LAS AMERICAS
June 1999, Miami, Florida

Media One Television
RADIO AMERICA
Weekly Audition, 1998, Miami, Florida

"George J. Horak is an exceptional artist, of infinite sensitivity for transmitting the natural beauties.  A brilliant interpreter of all aspects of the sea and the human spirit ....."

Evening News
WLTV CHANNEL 23
Miami, 1998

Mr. Horak's work, inspired in marine themes and environment, is sinply maginificent.

 Born in Prague, Czech Republic, American citizen, Captain Horak lived in numerous countries and places.  After some time living on an island in the Caribbean, he decided to establish his permanent residence in Miami, Florida.
He had studied architecture and design in New Jersey, USA, and Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Fine arts in Buenos Aires with such masters as Héctor Basaldúa and José María Lanus, and in USA with David Y. Chang, James M. Couper, III., and Richard Duncan.
George J. Horak, expert sailor, a passionate competitor of ocean races and presently the Commodore of the Miami Sailing Club, survived two hurricanes on the ocean, one of them intentionally and alone in his effort to save from a certain destruction an antique yacht.  He was one of the very few who survived the tremendous forces of hurricane Andrew in 1992, the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States, with winds in excess of 300 km/hour.
This violent experience generated a decisive reaction.  It made him to examine his past life and meditate about his objectives.  Thus in 1995 he could not resist the temptation to return to painting.  He entered the Florida International University, where he works to this date with the Director of the Visual Arts Department and a famous American painter, James M. Couper, III.
He achieved to transfer his intense concentration on his career as an architect to an equally passionate approach to visual arts.  After a short period of experimentation with different media, Horak returned to his old choice of preference, oil.
On this new "tack" his life picked up where he left off many years ago and he quickly became an attraction with his romantic marine themes.  He began an uninterrupted series of expositions in different countries.

ARS WEITRA
Wien, Austria
August 2000

"Currents are powerful forces, whether they are natural phenomena such as water or air or whether they are more internal manifestations such as the creative flow.  Frequently, they can be intensely frustrating as when one paddles against the wind, but they can also be sublimely exhilarating - a creative achievement which exceeds all prior efforts, for example.

George Horak is a person intimately aware of both kinds of currents:  as a sailor, he must be able to use the power of wind and water to his advantage.  As an artist, he must direct the creative flow to succeed in realizing his ideas through the medium of paint.  The works in this exhibition reflect a skipper who has developed skills and acquired a depth of experience which result in images of extraordinary beauty.  George shows his experience with the sea, taking the viewer beyond the ordinary perception of this huge, complicated subject.  His work ranges from the powerful and foreboding, where waves become agents of dire threat (He experienced Hurricane Andrew aboard his sail boat !) to images of serene calm where sky and water transcend the material and become an essence, a spiritual event.  His work is not merely a picture about - it is a synthesis of.  George is someone who lives his subject and, lucky for his viewers, he is also someone who has developed the ability to process this involvement.  It is this developed ability which he shares with those fortunate enough to view this body of work.

It has been my pleasure to work with George for the past several years.  I have witnessed his progress.  He started his studio work as a person of significant accomplishment, but being very self-demanding, he has grown into a painter with highly developed skills and an ability to show us his view of a world he knows so well.  His view is informative and fascinating.  George has created a current, a flow within the work and from piece to piece.  He has also issued a generous invitation.  George invites us to follow the current of his work.  We should accept.  It leads to beautiful and intriguing places.  Go."

James M. Couper, III., Professor
Visual Arts Department
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY, Miami, Florida, 1999

"A vying question that has generated much debate from times distant until today is "what is art ?" Clearly, there is no simple answer to such a complex issue, but among the many definitions describing what art is is that it is the aesthetic form given to experience.  I can think of no better example to illustrate this explanation than the work of George J. Horak.

George Horak is a sailor, a deep-water, ocean going, true yachtsman.  Not a casual weekend, fair weather coast-hugger.  This man is a true mariner - a real sea dog.  He has sailed over a large expanse of oceans, in every kind of weather, in a variety of vessels and has accumulated knowledge of the sea that few will ever know.  His experience is unique and of great dimension.  One need not read this to understand George's work.  The perceptive viewer, upon looking at his paintings will readily understand that George is extremely successful in giving form and meaning to his experience by using his brush.

His recent solo exhibition at the Museum of the Americas in Miami reflects an intimacy with the sea that is as intense as it is extensive.  He shows bays, coasts and oceans in an astonishing variety of moods, everything from idyllic, calm waters to dark treacherous storms.  He uses all of the painter's tools such as light, color, texture, scale and space to involve us, the viewers, in his intensely felt experience.

George seduces us into feeling that we are actually there, no longer mere viewers, rather we are participants.  We need to experience extreme caution on deck during this storm.  How do we navigate this huge wave looming off of our starboard bow ?  Ahh, this is better.  Surely we should anchor in this gentle expanse of glittering, azure water.  Oh oh, now we are shrouded in a dense fog.  Do we heave to or proceed slowly with all senses on full alert ?  Wait !

They are "just" paintings.  But they are special paintings.  We can enjoy them for their beauty and for their skill of execution, but we cannot escape sharing the experience that they mirror.  This is our good fortune and George's success.  His works synthesizes his experiences with his subject and his skill as a painter.  Years of work, both at the helm and before an easel come together in a body of work that informs us.

It tells of a life richly lived.  It reveals intimate glimpses of a world known only by a relatively few people. Most importantly, it affords us the opportunity to step outside of our routine existence and enjoy a time the artist Robert Henri describes thusly, "at such times there is a song going on within us, a song to which we listen.  It fills us with surprise.  We marvel at it.

George J. Horak's work gives us something to marvel at.  This is a marvelous accomplishment."

James M. Couper, III, Professor
Department of Visual Arts
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
February 2005, Miami, Florida

Personal letter received after professor Duncan had visited Mr. George J. Horak's exposition at the Museum of the Americas.

____________________________________________________________________________________________

Sally, and our friend, and I found your show very moving.  If you want to boost your morale just look at other landscape painters in the malls
or art fairs and galleries.  Yours makes theirs look like adolescent schlock.  But that is not the point.  The point is that you say something in your work; that you have "engaged" the subject and created a reality, not an allusion to or suggestion of; but rather a very individually selected experience based upon observation and experience that, strangely, few people even begin to approach.  You've also inspired me to reinvigorate the cleaning out of my studio with the intention of learning to be a painter - and a natural world one at that.  I'll have to go some to even begin to catch up to to your work, though.  I hope I have the discipline to try. Dick

Richard Duncan, Professor
Department of Visual Arts
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
Miami, Florida
February 14, 2005