David Aldrich

David Aldrich (Providence, Rhode Island, 1907 – 2002) was an American watercolor painter who also worked as an architect. His landscapes and cityscapes avoid literal realism, aiming instead for freedom and spontaneity in order to capture the essence of a scene.

Born into a family of painters, he grew up in Providence, where his parents helped found the Providence Art Club. Painting holidays in Glocester and Little Compton, alongside artist friends, shaped his early contact with the landscape. He studied at Brown University and at the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, and during the Second World War he served in the Army Air Corps in North Africa and Iran, applying his architectural training.

His professional career began in New York in 1933, working for his uncle's firm. He then spent time in Washington and later in Providence, where he became a partner in an architectural practice and served as the city's head planner. He never gave up watercolor, studying at several schools and attending weekly figure classes at the Providence Art Club, of which he was a life member.

In the 1960s he owned and directed Art Unlimited, a Thayer Street gallery showing contemporary art. He held many solo and group exhibitions in Rhode Island, and his work is held in private and corporate collections. A watercolor of the Gordon School campus still appears on its diplomas. Critics praised his fresh views, swift brushwork and translucent colour.