Alden Bryan Profile

Alden Bryan (1913 – 2001) Originally from Missouri, Harvard-educated in economics, an avid sailor and tennis player, Alden Bryan married  Mary Taylor, a sculpture student, and a year later they sailed into Gloucester Harbor, providing them with their first glimpse of working landscape artists. 

Subsequently studying with Emile Gruppe in Gloucester, Bryan went to Vermont in 1939 to study painting with Charles Curtis Allen, N.A..  Shortly thereafter, the Bryans settled on a dairy farm in Jeffersonville, where he introduced pasteurized milk to the area. Establishing a bakery, restaurant and inn, designing the base lodge of Smugglers Notch Resort, building the first indoor tennis center in Vermont, throughout a lifetime of varied achievements, Bryan painted.  Every summer the Bryans returned to their studio and art gallery in Rocky Neck, Gloucester where he was the proprietor of the Rudder Restaurant for 25 years.

Bryan painted in more than 25 countries, ranging from Katmandu to Cape Horn, Africa, to the Antarctic, Hong Kong and Indonesia.  He held memberships in many art organizations including the American Watercolor Society, the Salmagundi Club, Allied Artists of America, American Artists Professional League, Grand Central Art Association and the North Shore Arts Association.

It was in Vermont, and in the old city of Quebec, and on the Massachusetts seacoast where Bryan’s command of painting produced his most compelling works.  Over 1,000 paintings cover the changes in the local farmland of Vermont, and in the waterfront docks, recording the transformation from the age of sail to the age of steam. 

When Mary Bryan died in 1978, Alden Bryan set out to build a gallery in her memory, giving mortar and design to a spirit the Bryans had nurtured for over 30 years.  Inviting the best artists he knew to exhibit, the non-profit gallery on Main Street in Jeffersonville became a magnet for painters who lived the artistic legacy of Lamoille County, Vermont. 

The area’s unfettered vistas and local population welcomed the artists, and then left them alone.  Seeking that particular moment of light and characteristic of season, the camaraderie of painters, painting in Vermont has produced master painters in every generation for over one hundred years. 

 

Bryan Memorial Gallery celebrated the 100th birthday of its founder, Alden Bryan with an exhibition of his paintings in 2013, painted in 26 countries over a span of 60 years (early 1940’s until his death in 2001.)

Alden Bryan’s love of the landscape was vivid and instantaneous.  Working en plein air (in natural light,) he traveled with canvas boards, paints and brushes, and his approach to discovering a new land was to paint it with immediacy and enthusiasm.

His travels took him throughout Europe, North America, the Far East, and Down Under, but even at home in Vermont, he never stopped traveling and painting.

Scenes of the local Main Streets and town squares that are now historic records of an era that remains alive on canvas.

Finding Light in Landscapes with Oils (Studio Workshop) with Rosalie Sidoti

Fri, June 27, 2025 - Sat, June 28, 2025 9am - 3pm

Led by Bryan Gallery
Registration Required     »register now

The goal of this workshop is to create a substantial amount of atmosphere and activity in your painting to evoke a thought, memory or idea to the viewer.

This topic will be part of the ongoing conversation and practice to achieve your best work as well as techniques to simplify color mixing.A list of materials to bring will be provided once participants are registered.

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Plein Air in Oil with George Van Hook

Fri, August 15, 2025 - Sat, August 16, 2025 9am - 4pm

Led by Bryan Gallery
Registration Required     »register now

Join George Van Hook, nationally recognized painter, for a two-day, plein air workshop.
George stresses allaprima painting and uses a loose and fast approach to capture the landscape in the first try. Participants will be meeting on location and painting all day from 9am-4pm with a lunch break. Workshop includes live demos and individual attention. Please bring your own plein air equipment, supports, and media (oil, pastel, watercolor, acrylic).

Workshops begin with a demo from the artist, along with a discussion of composition, laying out the pallet, proper use of materials and all other aspects of plein air painting.  
Group and individual painting time follows, with individual instruction from George during this time. After lunch, he will do a quick demo to refresh the ideas presented at the start.  Painters will start a second painting for the afternoon with additional individual instruction. Painters may continue to paint after 4pm if they wish. Evenings are free.

Participants are responsible for their own art materials and their own meals and accommodations.
Artists at any stage of their development are welcome. However, the participating artist should have an understanding of and be comfortable with the oil medium.

Upon receiving your registration, you may download a materials list directly from the registration page.

Use promo code "BMGMEMBER" if you are a current member of the Gallery to recieve a MEMBER discount!

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2025 Bryan Gallery Fall Plein Air Retreat

Sun, October 12, 2025 - Sat, October 18, 2025 9:00am - 4:00pm

Led by Bryan Gallery
Registration Required     »register now

Join artists Leo Mancini-Hresko and T.M. Nicholas for a full week of painting with instruction, exploring the beauty of Vermont in autumn and creating new and lasting friendships over a shared love of art-making. This intensive plein-air Retreat will leave you with new skills and techniques and a deeper command of your painting style.
**The Painting Retreat is open to artists at all levels, but participants should have basic knowledge of working with oils, and with painting in general.**

Registration cost includes: 
Daily Meals with the group
Individualized instruction with renowned painters T.M. Nicholas & Leo Mancini-Hresko
Daily group critiques
Informative conversations and discussions
Group and solo time to paint and relax
Furthering you own personal inspiration and confidence

Not Included:
Airfare
Ground Transportation
Lodging
Traveler’s Insurance
Equipment and individual materials. 

Cancellation Policy:
Cancellation After June 13, 2025: 50% Refund
Cancellation After August 15, 2025: 25% Refund
Cancellation After September 19, 2025: No Refund

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