Robert Bryden
Bryden's father David was a colliery manager but Robert was never destined to follow in his footsteps. After attending school at Coylton and Ayr Academy he initially went to work in an architect's office - Morris and Hunter of Ayr. It seems he was not there very long before leaving to study at the Schools of the Royal College of Arts and Royal Academy of Arts in London.
When Bryden returned to Ayrshire after his travels in Spain and
Italy, he undertook a series of etchings illustrating the poems of
Robert Burns. He valued the history and culture of Ayrshire highly
and was very keen to ensure that it was not forgotten. He produced
several series' of prints featuring sites around Ayrshire that were
linked with the regions key figures such as Burns, including his
set of thirteen Picture Cards
of Ayrshire and Ayrshire Monuments, published as a
book. In the Foreword of this latter publication he stated his hope
to encourage others to "cherish jealously all those records of the
past, that to future generations they may act as incentives to
exertion."
It was not only Ayrshire's historical figures that interested
Bryden, he spent much time sketching Ayr's ordinary folk as well as
portraits of the region's more famous faces such as George Douglas
Brown, author of 'The House with the Green Shutters'.
Bryden produced a vast number of etchings during his career but he
also worked with the printmaking processes of mezzotint, drypoint
and woodcut. He also painted but towards the end of his career it
was sculpture that became his main focus, working on wood
carvings and bronze memorial panels.
