Bryan D. Walsh is not a trained artist but he has been drawing since he was a child and he still does. His hobby is a vocational one and he has a profound knowledge about the art business where he has been working for twenty years. His first contact with the arts was visiting museums at a very early age.
“It is not a must do to train one’s skills and some artists flourish without ever taking lessons.“ He insists that it just depends on the individual.
It was by chance that he ended up working in the art world: “An art dealer in Palm Beach met me at a party and thought I was really great with people and asked me to work at his gallery. I told him I had no real experience in the industry, but he said he would teach me. It is not rocket science, but you do have to have a passion for it, and I found that I did, so I stuck with it,” he confessed. And he is that good! He is not only a well-educated elegant individual but also an expert at the time when you have to select a piece of art either because you like it or for investment. He knows people well and he is prepared to get the most of an art deal but always taking into account the best choice for the client.
Walsh’s mother is a retired teacher and his father passed away when he was very young. He is convinced that art is the means to make better human beings. I agree with him: Art heals. He is so keen on the arts that he has his own views on it being part of a school’s curricula.
Maria Cabeza Do you think art should be a mandatory subject at school?
Bryan D. Walsh “Yes, I do think that children should have exposure to the arts, as they are just as important as learning anything else. The arts are a part of life, regardless of whether or not you pursue them.”
MC Does art make better people?
BDW “Art does tend to have a positive effect on people, so I would have to say yes. Is it good to get to know the artist or have you ever been disappointed? I mean the piece of art was better than the individual.
“I do think it is a great thing to be able to meet an artist when possible, as you are able to get insight into their work that you might not see just by looking at it. I do believe most true artists (not commercial artists) do embody their personality and soul into their works.”
Walsh replies to each question at ease and in such an accurate way that one feels that he is the right person to contact if you wish to buy a worthy work of art. He believes in what he does and passion pours out of him when he talks about it.
He has been working as the Art Director to DTR Modern Galleries in Palm Beach, Florida for seven years. The Gallery first opened in Boston twenty years ago and it has branches in New York City, Washington DC and Palm Beach.
The opening of DTR Gallery in Palm Beach was a big hit in the area because it offers a variety of works by modern and contemporary master artists such as: Basquiat, Botero, Chagall, Dali, Devine, Haring, Hirst, Katz, Lagemann, Lichtenstein, Longo, Mars, Matisse, Miro, Murakami, Picasso, Quinn, Slonem, Warhol, Wesselmann, Verbicky and more, and it also welcomes emergent artists, a brand-new concept in this area.
At the corner of 440 S. County Road at Worth Avenue you cannot help but to stare at DTR’s front window: incredible colors, textures, paintings with text, graffiti-like ones, sculptures, glass and even a policeman whom I am sure you will salute before you realize it is also part of the crew.
DTR exhibits bring a different kind of artistic perspective to Worth Avenue; a new and fresh approach to locale and is a wonderful tourist attraction as well.
