Robert Mihaly

Mihaly's sculptural work includes angels,[8][9] gargoyles,[6][10] an elaborate gothic mausoleum,[11] and four tractor-trailer loads of stonework that he carved for a miniature Renaissance villa.[1][2]

Mihaly's collection of gargoyles from popular town and gown characters of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are on top of the restaurant, Top of the Hill, overlooking the central crossroads of Franklin and Columbia Streets.[10] Each gargoyle has UNC rams horns. The characters include athletes Mia Hamm, Michael Jordan, and Julius Peppers as well as the street's namesake, Ben Franklin.[10][12]

Client Elizabeth Edwards and her husband, Senator John Edwards, commissioned Mihaly to carve the headstone of their deceased son, Wade, out of a 24,000 pound block of Vermont marble.[1][8] Edwards was "enchanted and confused" by the "weird and wonderful" artist, yet felt the sculpture of an angel caressing her child was "extraordinary".[8] The 10-foot (3.0 m) tall monument is in Raleigh's Historic Oakwood Cemetery.[13] Mihaly also designed the monument in Historic Oakwood Cemetery for Edwards after her death in 2010 from breast cancer.[14]

During the March 7, 2009 opening of Mihaly's Duke University solo exhibit at the Louise Jones Brown Gallery, A Pantheon of Modern Gods: An Anthropological Expedition into Corridors of Power, Mihaly paced the gallery, lecturing with a small sculpture entitled Cherub cradled in his arms, in front of visitors.[15] All the works in the exhibition were accompanied by quotations.[16]

The Gallery manager Rachel Pea described the art as "edgy" and "one of the more in-your-face sort of exhibits" since it challenges the viewer's ideas on the fabric of society: war, politics, money and religion.[17]

Mihaly's work "conveys illuminating social commentary" about "frightening political possibilities".[16] The Goddess of Eugenics is an oil on linen replication of Botticelli's The Birth of Venus, except Venus's body is pierced with bullet holes and dripping authentic blood.[16] The Zephyrs blow symbols of radiation and biohazard waste rather than the west wind.[16] Mihaly's description of the painting alludes to intricate plots by world leaders to cleanse the population.[16]

Castle Mont Rouge in the snow, Rougemont, North Carolina

Mihaly's former part-time country estate and studio is called Castle Mont Rouge.[2][18] The castle, located on Red Mountain in Rougemont, North Carolina, features onion domes like Eastern Orthodox churches and oxidized copper cupolas.[11][19]

Much rumor and lore has been built around the castle and its creator, Robert Mihaly.[20][21][22][23][24] Mihaly referenced the rumor about the death of his wife in a televised news story, acknowledging that he is not a widower. [20][21][22][23]