Adrian Ryan was born in Hampstead, London on October 3, 1920. He was the son of Vivian D. Ryan, a portrait painter.

Ryan, a painter in oil and watercolor of still-life, landscapes and portraits, studied at the Architectural Association School from 1938 – 1939 as well as the Slade School under Schwabe, Brooker and Charlton from 1939 – 1940

Ryan exhibited at the London Group from 1942 – 1943 and at the Royal Academy from 1949. His first one-man show was held in 1951 at the Redfern Gallery in London. He worked in Cornwall form 1943 – 1948, France from 1948 – 1950, and Suffolk from 1951 – 1957. Ryan taught at Goldsmiths College School of Art since 1948.

Bibliography

  • Grant M. Water, “Dictionary of British Artist Working 1900 – 1950”, p. 289;
  • E. Benezit Dictionnaire des Peintres, Sculpteurs, Dessinateurs et Graveurs.

Solo Exhibitions

  • 1943 – First one-man show at the Redfern Gallery, London, chosen by Erica Brausen, and five more exhibitions followed in the period between 1944 and 1953
  • 1956 – Tooths Gallery, London 1964 The Minories, Colchester
  • 1976 – The University of West Virginia, USA
  • 1980 – Gallery 10, London
  • 1983 & 85 – The Redfern Gallery, London
  • 1985 – Retrospective of Paintings and Watercolours (1943-85), The Minories, Colchester Chateau Entrecasteaux, Var, France
  • 1991 & 99 – Galerie Timothy Tew, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
  • 1994 – ‘A Kettle of Fish’, Sutton House, National Trust, London
  • 1995 – ‘Four Seasons’, Petworth House, National Trust, Sussex
  • 1996 – ‘Dwelling Places’, The Brewhouse Gallery, Eton College, Windsor

Group Exhibitions

  • 1948 – Third Crypt Exhibition, St Ives, Cornwall
  • 1953 – ‘Figures in their Setting’, Tate Gallery, London
  • 1959 – ‘Portraits by Contemporary British Artists’, Marlborough Gallery, London
  • 1977 – ‘Paintings of Cornwall 1945-55’, New Art Centre, London
  • 1985 – ‘St Ives 1939-64’, Tate Gallery, London
  • 1993, 94 & 96 – Galerie Timo
  • 1999-2000 – ‘The Far Horizon’, Tate Gallery, St Ives, Cornwall

Collections

  • Tate Gallery, London
  • Victoria & Albert Museum, London
  • National Gallery of Northern Ireland, Belfast
  • National Gallery of New Zealand, Wellington
  • The Chantrey Bequest
  • Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
  • Arts Council of Great Britain
  • The British Council
  • The Contemporary Art Society
  • The Nuffield Foundation
  • The Sainsbury Trust

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