Richard Jenkins Bryan was not just born in Charleston, South Carolina, but was very much of Charleston as both of his parents, Julia Estelle Jenkins and Richard Roper Bryan, were descended from notable local families. The artist spent most of his life in the area and graduated in 1931 from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina. Before his graduation, Bryan explored oil painting with artist Emma Gilchrist, known for her evocative streetscapes. He studied drawing with Alfred Hutty, a Woodstock, New York, artist who first arrived in Charleston in 1919 and then remained a seasonal resident in the city until his death in 1954. For unexplained reasons, Bryan also enrolled at the Kansas City Art Institute, probably during the time Thomas Hart Benton was on the faculty. In addition, he took instruction from Jack Leinhart, a painter residing on Johns Island, near Charleston.
Most of Bryan’s subject matter focuses on his native city: depictions of the lush Lowcountry landscapes and documental scenes of African Americans, a theme frequently pursued by Hutty, possibly to appeal to the tourist trade. Bryan’s work was included in several exhibitions at the Carolina Art Association (now the Gibbes Museum of Art), and in 1939 he won the Waring Memorial Award for the best landscape. In addition, his oil paintings garnered prizes at county and state fairs. One of Bryan’s most memorable accomplishments is the series of illustrations he did for Alston Deas’ book, The Early Ironwork of Charleston, published in 1941. His artistic contributions were saluted in Albert Simons’ introduction: “Richard Bryan’s drawings are not only a delight to the eye but are accurate and dependable interpretations of the examples presented. The subtle variations of freehand pencil drawings are especially sympathetic to the slight irregularities of hand-wrought ironwork.”