David Dubal: From Music to Art

David Dubal is best known for his musical achievements. As a former professor of piano at Juilliard, author, and radio host of WQXR (New York’s only classical radio station), Dubal has become a mainstay of New York’s classical music scene, educating and entertaining the public about the piano’s vast repertoire and rich history. An Emmy Award winner and friend of the late piano legend Vladimir Horowitz, Dubal is an expert on the golden age of the piano, and through his prolific writing and a lifetime of dedication to his craft, he has become a custodian of its legacy.

But outside of his musical career, Dubal has a hidden passion. Since he was a young boy, Dubal loved to paint and draw pictures, so much so that his oeuvre as a painter is as extensive as his list of musical accomplishments. “I have drawings, paintings. It’s in every closet, under the bed. It’s here, it’s there, it’s everywhere,” he says of his work. For Dubal though, painting was just a creative outlet and nothing more; save for a few art shows, few people ever saw the colorful and striking paintings that decorated the walls at his Upper West Side apartment.

Dubal’s paintings, however, are coming out of hiding. His latest book, “Selected Paintings and Drawings of David Dubal,” is a collection of paintings, drawings and sketches by the author, and also includes written commentary about Dubal’s artistic journey and the nature of art as a whole. The book is eclectic, containing colorful abstracts, quirky renderings of geldings and bejeweled dogs, surreal black-and-white sketches and classical portraits of great musicians such as Prokofiev, Bizet, and Sibelius. The book is both adventurous and personal, showing the full range of one man’s emotions and artistic expression.

The idea for the book came from Dubal contemplating his own mortality. “I started thinking, well, ‘oh my god, if I die tomorrow, I mean they’ll probably, nobody will care about [my paintings]. And maybe they’ll just be thrown into the Hudson River. So, I said, I really have to at least have some record that these things existed, and that they can be seen in some way.” Dubal’s collection is not just another art book; it is a record of his work for posterity, and this desire to be remembered gives the book a personal quality that makes readers feel they are getting to know the author in an intimate way.

“Two Different Sources”

Dubal is clear though that he has no interest in making his living as a painter. “It’s always been important to me to have this just for myself,” he says about his painting. “I never showed anyone anything really ... But basically, over the years, it was always just me, doing what I had wanted, because as you know, in this society, we have almost every day, we have to do only what others want or the society wants or the bureaucracy wants ... So I’ve been lucky enough in my life to do what I wanted compared to most people.” Dubal’s work has a purity to it and is just about enjoyment and artistic expression. This love of enjoyment without any financial motive shines through in his work.

For Dubal though, his artistic life as nothing to do with his musical life. “They come from two different sources,” he says of music and art, “and here’s the difference: the sources are the organ called the eye, which has unbelievable subtleties, and the other organ is the ear...as art, they are extremely different. The only thing in common is the deep unconscious creativity, which makes someone want to extend their horizons.” Dubal feels that his painting does not influence his music-making in any way. He feels that they are two separate worlds that he jumps between, and “If there’s anything in the influence of anything, it’s just the influence of just becoming more sensitive through both of those arts.”

Through his painting, Dubal joins a long line of other famous musicians, such as Gershwin, Granados and Schoenberg, who made their names composing music, but were also very accomplished painters in their own right. “Gershwin painted,” Dubal noted, “and he said ... ‘that [my painting is] just as important to me as my music.’” Dubal feels similarly about his own work as a painter, saying that his “painting has been just as important as practicing the piano,” and that “each of the things I’ve done [in my life] is almost equally important.”

Dubal points out that his music-making is more of a process whereas his work as a painter is just about the end result. He feels that one’s musical technique “evolves. You get to know your instrument more, I get to know [a piece by] Bach better the more I play, or the scales are faster; it’s a technical process. In painting, the end product is the only thing that counts.”

Whether Dubal is painting or creating music, it always comes back to enjoyment and the gratitude he feels for the life that he has led. “I’ve been able to do exactly what I wanted” in my life, he says.” I wanted to teach, so I ended up teaching in the highest strata. I wanted to paint ... I do it all the time. I wanted to practice , I do it all the time.” Enjoyment is the key ingredient in Dubal’s musical and artistic life, the common denominator between the paintings he makes and the sonatas he plays. And in his new book of artwork made from “paper, crayons, pencil, ink, pens, charcoal,” and watercolors, the joy In David Dubal’s artistic process jumps off the page and is a feast for the eye.

David Dubal’s book, “Selected Paintings and Drawings of David Dubal,” is available for purchase on Amazon and other online stores.