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Allen Blagden, born into a family of talented artists, has painted professionally since his early days as a student at Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut. His technique starts with a linear pencil drawing and then builds layer upon layer of watercolor. He prefers dry brush, working slowly and meticulously with small, delicate brushstrokes, to create a subtle magnificence of contrasts and textures. In addition to watercolor, he is also adept in the mediums of oil, etching and lithography.
Allen received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Cornell University and was awarded a summer fellowship to the Yale University art program. An accomplished watercolorist for decades, his career in the art world has included serving as an illustrator for the Serengeti National Park in Kenya, the Department of Ornithology at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC and Abercrombie and Kent in East Africa. Allen was an art instructor at Hotchkiss School and has been an artist in residence at Cornell University and Spring Island in Okatie, South Carolina.
Gallery exhibitions of his work include the Art Association of Newport. Rhode Island, Frank Rehn Gallery in New York City, Galerie de Paris, Trafford Gallery in London, Kennedy Galleries in New York City, Godel Fine Art in New York, Mongerson-Wunderlich in Chicago, and La Cienega Gallery in Los Angeles.
He has participated in museum exhibitions at the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, New York, Albright Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, Bennington Vermont Center for the Arts, Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Boston Museum of Science, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum in Wasau, Wisconsin, New Britain Museum of American Art in New Britain, Connecticut, Oklahoma Art Center in Oklahoma City, U.S. Department of Parks “Arts for the Parks”, and Wadsworth Athenaeum in Hartford, Connecticut.
From one man exhibitions at Frank Rehn Gallery in New York City, Kennedy Galleries in New York City, Godel Fine Art in New York City, Century Association in New York City, Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, New York and Artis Group Ltd. in Palm Beach to group shows at Artists of America in Denver, Colorado, Gerald Peters Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Ober Gallery in Kent, Connecticut, Arts for the Parks in Jackson, Wyoming and Society of Animal Artists at Blauvelt Museum in New Jersey, Allen has been hailed as one of the most outstanding watercolorists of his time.
His work is located in the permanent collections of the Adirondack Museum, Berkshire Museum, Butler Institute of American Art, Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum, New Britain Museum, Peabody Museum, Shelburne Museum, Santa Fe Art Foundation, Terra Museum, and Bennington Center for the Arts.
Allen has been awarded with the Allied American Artists Award, the Century Association Medal, the National Academy of Design Certificate of Merit, and the Bronze Medal Marine Award by Arts for the Parks. He currently serves on the Board of the Society of Animal Artists.
His work can be found in the following publications: “Painting the Landscape” by Elizabeth Arnold, “Wildlife Painting” by Susan Rayfield, “Enliven Your Paintings with Color” by Phil Metzger, “The Artists Guide to Using Color” by Wendon Blake, and the July 1993 edition of InformArt Magazine, article by Peggy Chartier.
Allen resides in Salisbury, Connecticut.
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