David Aldrich (November 4, 1907 – September 13, 2002) was an American watercolor painter and architect from Rhode Island. The landscapes and cityscapes that he painted were not painted with literal realism but rather with freedom and spontaneity in an attempt to capture the essence of the scene.

Early life

Born in 1907 to John Gladding Aldrich and Margaret Putnam Calder. Aldrich's love of art began in his childhood home in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, where his parents both painted and were influential in the creation of the

Providence Art Club The Providence Art Club, Thomas Street, Providence, Rhode Island, was founded in 1880. An art club is an organization for artists and the community to engage and collaborate with each other in a shared space dedicated to art and culture. The P ...

. The family often took painting vacations to

Glocester, Rhode Island Glocester, otherwise officially called the Town of Glocester, Rhode Island, is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 9,974 as of the 2020 census. The villages of Chepachet and Harmony are in Glocester. ...

and to

Little Compton, Rhode Island Little Compton is a coastal town in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, bounded on the south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by the Sakonnet River, on the north by the town of Tiverton, Rhode Island, Tiverton, and on the east by the t ...

where they painted with their good friends, the Burleighs (local artist Sydney Burleigh was known to Aldrich as Uncle Tid). Later the Aldriches traveled to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, taking every opportunity to stop by the side of the road to paint when coming upon an inspiring view. He attended and graduated from the Gordon School, the

Moses Brown School Moses Brown School is an independent, Quaker, college preparatory school, currently with 774 students, located in Providence, Rhode Island,offering pre-kindergarten through secondary school classes. Founded in 1784 by Moses Brown, a Quaker ab ...

. And then went on to college at

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

, graduating in 1929 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and

Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) is the architecture school of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. It is also home to the Masters of Science program in Advanced Architect ...

graduating in 1933 with a master's degree in architecture. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he served in the Army Air Corps in North Africa and Iran, using his architectural training.

Work

Aldrich's artistic career began as an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

in 1933 with his uncle,

Chester Holmes Aldrich Chester Holmes Aldrich (4 June 1871 – 26 December 1940) was an American architect and director of the American Academy in Rome. Early life Aldrich was born in Providence, Rhode Island. He was the third son of Anna Elizabeth (née Gladding) an ...

, at

Delano & Aldrich Delano & Aldrich was an American Beaux-Arts architectural firm based in New York City. Many of its clients were among the wealthiest and most powerful families in the state. Founded in 1903, the firm operated as a partnership until 1935, when Al ...

. After his time in New York, he spent two years in

Washington DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

at the

US Treasury Department The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and ...

. In 1937 he became a partner in the architectural firm of Kent & Aldrich in

Providence, RI Providence () is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, it is one of the oldest cities in New England, founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and ...

. He later opened a private architectural firm and became the head city planner for the City of

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in some religions * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

. He retained his interest in

watercolor painting Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin 'water'), is a painting method"Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to the S ...

throughout his life, studying at the O'Hara School, the Positano Workshop, the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase th ...

and attending figure study classes every week at the

, where he was a life member. In the 1960s he was owner and director of Art Unlimited, a gallery on

Thayer Street Thayer Street in Providence, Rhode Island is a popular destination for students of the area's nearby schools of Brown University, Moses Brown School, Hope High School, Wheeler School, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence College, Johns ...

that exhibited contemporary art from artists such as Hazel Belvo,

Lawrence Kupferman Lawrence Kupferman (1909–1982) was an American painter associated with the Boston Expressionist school in the early 1940s, and later, with Abstract Expressionism. He chaired the Painting Department at the Massachusetts College of Art, where he ...

, and Baburao Sadwelkar. Aldrich had numerous one-man exhibitions, notably at the

, the Rhode Island Watercolor Society, and the Gallery on the Commons in

. He also exhibited in many group shows in those galleries as well as the

Museum, Rhode Island Arts Festival,

DeCordova Museum The deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum is a sculpture park and contemporary art museum on the southern shore of Flint's Pond in Lincoln, Massachusetts, 20 miles northwest of Boston. It was established in 1950, and is the largest park of its k ...

, Virginia Lynch Gallery, Wheeler Gallery and others. His work received many awards and is represented in numerous private and corporate collections. A watercolor he did of the Gordon School's campus still graces that school's diplomas. Up until his death he devoted himself entirely to his painting. As one critic wrote: “His view is always fresh and unhackneyed, his brush is deft, his strokes swift and colors translucent and unmuddied – the paper often does the majority of the work…a sort of artistic shorthand that can make water color really exciting.” Aldrich said that his work was “an expression of the essence of my feelings toward the subject in color, line, and space.”

References

External links

Art League of Rhode Island 2003 Publication
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldrich, David 1907 births 2002 deaths United States Army Air Forces soldiers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Architects from Providence, Rhode Island People from Little Compton, Rhode Island Artists from Providence, Rhode Island Brown University alumni Painters from Rhode Island Rhode Island School of Design alumni Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation alumni 20th-century American painters American male painters Moses Brown School alumni 20th-century American male artists