Olivia Mary Bryden (1883–1951) was a British portrait painter and decorative artist.

Biography

Bryden grew up in

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

and attended West Hill School in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. It is also a non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, bor ...

before training as an artist in Paris. She studied at the

Académie de la Grande Chaumière The Académie de la Grande Chaumière () is an art school in the Montparnasse district of Paris, France. History The school was founded in 1904 by the Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho on the rue de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, near the A ...

and the Academie Colarossi under

Lucien Simon Lucien Joseph Simon (1861 – 1945) was a French painter and teacher born in Paris. Early life and education Simon was born in Paris. After graduating from the Lycée Louis-le-Grand, he studied painting at the studio of Jules Didier, then from ...

and

Charles Cottet Charles Cottet (; 12 July 1863 – 20 September 1925) was a French painter, born at Le Puy-en-Velay and died in Paris. A famed Post-Impressionist, Cottet is known for his dark, evocative painting of rural Brittany and seascapes. He led a sch ...

. Returning to England, Bryden studied at the

Central School of Arts and Crafts The Central School of Art and Design was a art school, school of fine arts, fine and applied arts in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1896 by the London County Council as the Central School ...

in London where she received her teacher training certificate and was awarded a prize by the Royal Drawing Society. Producing portraits and decorative pieces, Bryden became a regular exhibitor at London galleries. She showed works at the Grosvenor Galleries, at Burlington House, with the Fine Art Society and the Royal Society of British Artists and, between 1922 and 1933, with the Society of Women Artists. A number of churches acquired decorative pieces by Bryden. She produced a panel for the altar of a church in Brede, East Sussex, Brede in Sussex and a triptych for a church in Highgate, near her Hampstead home. Bryden's 1935 portrait of Frederick Courtney Selous is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery (London), National Portrait Gallery in London. The Imperial War Museum also holds a portrait of Selous by Bryden.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryden, Olivia Mary 1883 births 1951 deaths 20th-century English painters 20th-century English women artists Alumni of the Central School of Art and Design Alumni of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière Académie Colarossi alumni English women painters People from Royal Tunbridge Wells 20th-century British women painters