Blast From The Past: Forty-Six Years - Forty-Six Works of Art

 

This year marks the 46th anniversary of the David Barnett Gallery and what better way to celebrate than to create a show that reflects on the history of the gallery. From this idea, Blast From the Past: 46 Works of Art from the Collection of David Barnett and the David Barnett Gallery was born. The 46 works of art on display will represent an artwork from the collection for each year the David Barnett Gallery has been in business. An opening reception will be held on Gallery Night & Day, Friday, April 19, 2013 from 5:00pm to 9:00pm and Saturday, April 20, 2013 from 11:00am to 5:00pm. The exhibit will run through July 20, 2013. The gallery is located at 1024 E. State St. at Prospect Ave. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

From humble beginnings as a 19 year old Fine Arts and Art History student of UW Milwaukee, David Barnett started his gallery with working capital of $186.00. That was 1966. In 1968, David took his first trip to New York and in 1969 he took his first of many trips to Europe to meet with art dealers and artists in order to bring back artwork that was needed in Milwaukee. At that time, the David Barnett Gallery was the only gallery in the Midwest to feature works and one man shows by Milton Avery, Henri Matisse, Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Thomas Hart Benton and Pablo Picasso Ceramics.

Over the past 46 years, the gallery has grown and evolved from exhibiting the work of local graduate students to an inventory of more than 6,000 works of art from around the world. One of the most diverse collections in the country including paintings, watercolors, drawings, original prints, sculpture, vintage posters and art glass. Local, regional and nationally recognized American artists, European masters from Rembrandt to Contemporary, Central and Latin American masters, Indonesian, New Guinea, Japanese, Chinese, African art from the Congo, Mali, Burkina Fasso, Gold Coast (Ghana), Nigeria and Sierra Leone. A large collection of contemporary stone sculpture by the Shona people from Zimbabwe.

The gallery is internationally recognized for its 40 years of dealing in Picasso Ceramics. In 1984 the gallery became a primary exhibitor and seller of paintings, watercolors, drawings and original prints by Milton Avery. In 1975 the gallery held the first one man show in the USA for French artist, Claude Weisbuch.

Featured artists include, Avery, Brandt, Calder, Chagall, Curry, Dali, Diebenkorn, Giacometti, Gutierrez, Johnson, Kandinsky, Lee, Lichtenstein, Man Ray, Marini, Miro, Mucha, Picasso, Pissarro, Rosenquist, Rembrandt, VanDongen, Vuillard, Weisbuch, Whistler, Rozman, Schroedter, Francesco & Sylvia Spicuzza, Lewandowski, Summers, Nemtoi, Madamombe, Arp, Gee, Lenero, Craig, Che, Meadmore, Masson, Matisse, Renoir, Steinlen, Walkowitz, Warhol and John Takawira.

The David Barnett Gallery provides professional art consultation, appraisals, restoration and conservation, framing, lighting, custom giclee printing, delivery, and installation services. The gallery’s Van Go mobile art service brings artwork to residences and offices for “on location” selection. Viewing hours at the David Barnett Gallery are 11:00am to 5:30pm Tuesday through Friday, 11:00am to 5:00pm Saturday, or by appointment. For further information, please call (414) 271-5058.