A Collection of Art Through the Ages At The David Barnett Gallery

This sent Barnett on a lifelong journey. Traveling on two parallel paths, he pursued his craft as a practicing artist, while developing his eye as a savvy collector and ultimately a dealer in a competitive marketplace. 

Born in Wisconsin in 1933, Barnett credits his parents with supporting his interest in art. “I was encouraged from age five to be an artist. My father had a textile manufacturing company in Wisconsin. I was supposed to go into the family business, but I majored in fine art and art history instead.”

Barnett’s entrepreneurial spirit and desire to open his own gallery was facilitated by the fact that his family owned an apartment building in Milwaukee. It had an empty 1,400 square foot basement space that Barnett offered to remodel, and in 1966, with $186 capital investment, he was able to open his first gallery. 

“I got artwork on consignment from local college and university students. I started going to New York, Paris, Switzerland, to auctions and artist’s studios to buy art.” Barnett’s enthusiasm for collecting won the attention of some of the most influential players in the art world at that time. “I was 24 years old when I visited Grace Borgenicht in her New York apartment.” 

Borgenicht had opened her own successful NY gallery focusing on living American artists in 1955. In particular, she represented Milton Avery (1885-1965) until his death. “It was Grace who invited me to stay with her and her daughters every summer in Watermill. I was in de Kooning’s studio. I met Claude Picasso on a picnic on the 4th of July.”

In 1985, Barnett moved his gallery to the Old Button Mansion, a stately, ornate, Italianate Victorian at 1024 East State Street, where it remains today. The structure was architecturally impressive, but had undergone some unfortunate renovations. However, many handsome original details remain, like the 12 foot ceilings and fireplaces with white marble mantels. 

Here, Barnett has curated as many as 10 shows a year on three floors of exhibition space. The galleries have the feel of a Gertrude Stein Salon with art displayed on every available piece of wall space. Besides his own colorful and lighthearted watercolors and other works on paper, Barnett offers American and European masters, artwork from Latin America and Asia, as well as ethnographic art from Africa, Indonesia, and Oceania.

The gallery has a national reputation for its extensive collection of Picasso ceramics and Milton Avery oil paintings. Barnett also provides professional art consultations, appraisals, restoration and conservation, custom framing, lighting, custom giclée printing, delivery, and installation services.  

On the day before I interviewed Barnett, he was busy hosting visitors at the gallery. He also has adopted the digital world to expand his reach. In a recent edition of ART-iculating, Barnett’s monthly podcast, he discussed his favorite artist, Marc Chagall. 

He had organized a Chagall exhibition in the gallery to coincide with the Jewish Museum of Milwaukee’s Chagall show that opened on June 7th. Barnett's show runs from July 19 to October 12.

Barnett reflects, “Even though my parents instilled an appreciation in me for art, I have a passion for collecting that borders on an obsession, a compulsive impulse to collect.” That compulsion has been used to benefit a broad constituency. 

Over the past few decades, David Barnett has combined his curatorial expertise with philanthropy by donating over one million dollars in artwork to support Wisconsin’s cultural community. This legacy represents a life in art well lived.