David Barbero

Born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1938, David Barbero is abstract, contemporary painter known for his work in color theory who lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico. While he thought about becoming a science teacher, a YWCA-sponsored arts social group in high school, as well as meeting local artists, encouraged him to pursue art. He earned a degree in mechanical drawing from the New Bedford Vocation School before studying painting at the Boston Museum School from where he graduated with honors in 1963. He then attended the Yale School of Art, and earned his MFA from Tufts University. In 1964, he had his first exhibit in Boston, Massachusetts. Barbero taught at Northeastern University and the College of Santa Fe. He traveled in extensively in Europe and, in 1975, he travelled to New Mexico with photographer Richard Faller. After returning to New Mexico for summer after summer, he settled permanently in Santa Fe in 1983. He died in May, 1999 while flying to Crete to teach a Tai Chi Chuan workshop.