Gordon M. Allen

Gordon M. Allen Biography

Gordon Allen grew up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. His love of hunting and fishing is reflected in his beautiful etchings and oil paintings. Allen began his art career at age twenty when he illustrated his first book. In the next dozen years he went on to illustrate more than twenty books for New York publishers, most of them in the sporting genre. His work has also appeared in Gray’s Sporting Journal, The Atlantic Salmon Journal, Big Sky Journal, Fly Fisherman, Rod and Reel, Sports Afield, Field and Stream and Outdoor Life.

For the last ten or more years, Gordon has been busy with etching and painting and has done little illustrating. He divides his time between etching and painting and is devoted to painting from ‘life’ out of doors. Known at one of the finest printmakers of etchings of sporting scenes in America today, Allen is now establishing a similar quality reputation as a ‘plein air’ oil painter of landscapes, marine scenes, city views and ‘real life’ subjects.

His painting subjects range widely from the urban landscape of Savannah, GA, Maryland’s Eastern shore, to the salmon rivers of Alaska and maritime Canada where he has spent summers for the past several years. His paintings and etchings are now shown in major galleries across the country.

Gordon Allen is dedicated to conservation efforts providing work to raise funds for organizations such as Ducks Unlimited, Trout Unlimited, The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, The Ruffed Grouse Society, and The Atlantic Salmon Foundation.

EDUCATION
Mr. Allen attended the Maryland Institute College of Art, the Boston Museum School, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art and the Schuler School of Fine Art in Baltimore, Maryland. He has attended painting workshops given by William Reese, Skip Whitcomb and Kevin Lynch.

SELECTED BOOKS ILLUSTRATED
Mostly Tailfeathers, by Gene HillThe Complete Wilderness Paddler, publisher Alfred A. Knopf
Recollections of a Shooting Guest, published in a limited edition of 1000, Amwell Press
The Best of Sheep Hunting, published in a limited edition of 1000 by Amwell Press
Fishing the Dry Fly for Trout on Rivers & Streams, Art Lee, publisher, Atheneum Books
Vermont River, by Walt Wetherell, published by Nick Lyons BooksSilver,
The Life Story of an Atlantic Salmon, by Roderick Haig-Brown, publisher, Lyons-Burford Press

SELECTED SHOWS
Gordon Allen has participated in a number of shows across the country
Autumn Celebration of Art, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005 Annapolis, MD
The Art of Fly Fishing – A Visual History, 1996, Academy of the Arts, Easton, MD
Masters of Wildlife and Sporting Art, 1998, 1993, 1991, Ligonier, PA
Plantation Wildlife Arts Festival, 1998, 1996, Thomasville, GA
Visions of the Natural World, 1995, 1994, Airlie Center, Warrenton, VA
The Art of Casting, 1999, American Museum of Fly Fishing, Manchester, VT