Allen Blagden

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. MUSEUM SHOWS Adirondack Museum Albright Knox Art Gallery Bennington Vermont Center for the Arts Berkshire Museum Boston Museum of Science Leigh Yawkey WoodsonMuseum in Wasau New Britain Museum of American Art Oklahoma Art Center U.S. Department of Parks “Arts for the Parks” Wadsworth Athenaeum in Hartford, Connecticut SOLO GALLERY EXHIBITIONS Frank Rehn Gallery, New York City Kennedy Galleries, New York City Godel Fine Art, New York City Century Association, New York City Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, New York Artis Group Ltd., Palm Beach GROUP SHOWS Artists of America, Denver, Colorado Galerie de Paris, Paris Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico La Cienega Gallery, Los Angeles. Mongerson-Wunderlich, Chicago Ober Gallery, Kent, Connecticut Arts for the Parks, Jackson, Wyoming Society of Animal Artists at Blauvelt Museum, New Jersey Trafford Gallery, London MUSEUM COLLECTIONS 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 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.