Painter Tomasz Rut has been called many things, from “modern-day Master” to one of the most collectible living artists. And while his name often appears alongside those of other contemporary greats, from Francesco Clemente to Dale Chihuly, much of Rut’s body of work wouldn’t look out of place in the historical villas of the Medicis or the Sforzas. Indeed, two Rut canvases are in the Vatican’s permanent collection, blessed by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI himself, alongside works by Michelangelo and Raphael.

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Not long ago, one of Rut’s signatures was the deliberate aging that was a part of his painting process—adding a varnish or a “distressing veil of neutral color,” in the artist’s own words, that let finished pieces simulate the quality of an old fresco. “The idea to use that effect in my work came to me after visiting Pompeii and all its distressed, decayed murals,” Rut told Observer. It occurred to me that despite the damages........

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