Frederick Henry (Fred) Brigden (April09, 1871 1956), also known as F. H. Brigden, was a landscape painter in oils and watercolour, illustrator, and commercial engraver.

Career

Born in London, England, Brigden came to Canada with his parents in 1872 and with them, settled in Toronto.A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 (online only), by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker National Gallery of Canada / Musée des beaux-arts du Canada In 1877, his father Frederick Brigden Senior founded the Toronto Engraving Company with Henry Beale. In 1898, Fred Brigden became the art director of the Toronto Engraving Company which in 1910 changed its name to Brigdens Limited. In 1914, he opened a branch of Brigden's in Winnipeg and gave employment to such artists as Charles Comfort and many others.

Work

Since he was talented in art, F. H. Brigden attended the Toronto Art Student’s League as a youth, studying with William Cruikshank and George Agnew Reid. He also attended meetings of the Mahlstick Club which included

J. E. H. MacDonald James Edward Hervey MacDonald (1873–1932) was an English-Canadian artist, best known as a member of the Group of Seven who asserted a distinct national identity combined with a common heritage stemming from early modernism in Europe in the ear ...

among other artists. Brigden painted in a traditional English watercolour style until about 1906 when he made his first trip to the north country of Canada when his work became brightened and became more decisive. He visited galleries in London, Manchester and Brussels in 1910, and during the summer, Brigden studied with John F. Carlson in Woodstock, New York. In 1912 he visited the Albright Art Gallery, today's

Albright-Knox Gallery The Buffalo AKG Art Museum, formerly known as the Albright–Knox Art Gallery, is an art museum at 1285 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, New York, in Delaware Park. the museum's Elmwood Avenue campus is temporarily closed for construction. It hosted e ...

, in Buffalo, New York, where he saw the ''Exhibition of Contemporary Scandinavian Art'' and post-Impressionist and expressionist landscape paintings. It was the same exhibition which

and Lawren Harris saw and were inspired by in 1913. Bridgen, however, remained more of a traditionalist and retained his long-term interest in the English watercolourists. In 1924 on a business trip to England he examined with interest a portfolio of original watercolours of

John Sell Cotman John Sell Cotman (16 May 1782 – 24 July 1842) was an English marine and landscape painter, etcher, illustrator, author and a leading member of the Norwich School of painters. Born in Norwich, the son of a silk merchant and lace dealer, Cot ...

. In 1925, he was one of the founders and the first elected President of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour (CSPWC/SCPA). Brigden joined the

Ontario Society of Artists The Ontario Society of Artists (OSA) was founded in 1872. It is Canada's oldest continuously operating professional art society. When it was founded at the home of John Arthur Fraser, seven artists were present. Besides Fraser himself, Marmaduke M ...

in 1898 and the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 1939 and is represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Gallery of Ontario. He died on a sketching trip at Bolton, Ontario in 1956.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brigden, Frederick Henry 1871 births 1956 deaths 19th-century Canadian painters Canadian male painters 20th-century Canadian painters Canadian illustrators English emigrants to Canada People from London Members of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts 19th-century Canadian male artists 20th-century Canadian male artists

Career

Work

Further reading

References