Disabled Artist Expressed Himself With Color

Bedford's David Herbst is a talented abstract expressionist painter who has studied at Cooper Union, NYU and Hunter College. He also received the first place prize at the Katonah Beaux Art Exhibition in 2009.

He also happens to have multiple sclerosis.

This life-altering disease forced his retirement from a career as high school art teacher in the New York City schools, when he was diagnosed with MS in 1988.  By 1992, he lost use of his left side, was confined to a wheelchair and had his speech greatly impaired.

When his disease robbed him of the use of his left-hand, which he primarily used, Herbst eventually had to put down his paintbrushes, too. But after a decade of not painting, he made a decision to return to his artistic passions, and engaged his left-brain to work on the use of his right hand, he said.

Herbst is modest about the effort required to reinvent his artistic skills. "Well, I have nothing else to do," he said, with the help of his aide Mike Monge, but his answer was less a reflection of the idle time from a forced early retirement, than an indication that the disability has not robbed him of who he is. 

All joking aside, he said, simply, "I'm an artist."

This Saturday, The Katonah Art Center will feature his exhibit, "Abundance of Color," from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Herbst once studied with famed artists Toni Smith and Ad Rheinhardt but is now inspired by the natural settings he's surrounded by at home. He'll often sit by a brook to conjure images that end up in his acrylic paintings.

"Only my wife [Nancy] can help me, she's my muse," he said.  She keeps the easel populated with acrylic paint and cuts and pastes the shapes he adds to give his work texture.

In comparison to the straight edged abstract of his younger days, his colors now are more a clash of boundaries and expression, he said. When asked how others view his work, Herbst shrugs his shoulders, suggesting that's not his primary focus.

The exhibit displays twelve pieces, all for sale prices ranging from $200 to $2000.

Herbst won't put himself in a special category for his artistic wizardry in the face of extreme challenges. In fact, he points to those who preceded him with similar perseverance.  Among others, Van Goethe lost his mind and Matisse lost his sight, he notes.

"I'm far from the only one."