Michael Bryan. Michael Bryan was an English art historian, art dealer and connoisseur.
He was involved in the purchase and resale of the great French Orleans Collection of art, selling it on to a British syndicate, and owned a fashionable art gallery in Savile Row, London. His book, Biographical and Critical Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, first published in 1813-16, was a standard reference work throughout the 19th century, and was last republished in 1920; however it is now badly outdated.
Bryan was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, and educated at the Royal Grammar School under Dr. Moyce. He travelled to London in 1781, then to Flanders with his eldest brother, where he lived from 1782 to 1790, possibly having some connection with the cloth trade, but also building up his art historical knowledge.
In June 1784, he married Juliana Talbot, the sister of Charles Talbot, the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury, which gained him valuable aristocratic social connections. Bryan moved back to London in 1790 establishing himself as an authority and dealer in Fine Art.
In 1793 or 1794, he again went to the continent in search of fine pictures. Among other places he visited Holland, and remained there until an order arrived from the French government to stop all English citizens then resident there. He was, amongst many others, detained at Rotterdam. It was here that he met Jean-Joseph de Labord
He was involved in the purchase and resale of the great French Orleans Collection of art, selling it on to a British syndicate, and owned a fashionable art gallery in Savile Row, London. His book, Biographical and Critical Dictionary of Painters and Engravers, first published in 1813-16, was a standard reference work throughout the 19th century, and was last republished in 1920; however it is now badly outdated.
Bryan was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, and educated at the Royal Grammar School under Dr. Moyce. He travelled to London in 1781, then to Flanders with his eldest brother, where he lived from 1782 to 1790, possibly having some connection with the cloth trade, but also building up his art historical knowledge.
In June 1784, he married Juliana Talbot, the sister of Charles Talbot, the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury, which gained him valuable aristocratic social connections. Bryan moved back to London in 1790 establishing himself as an authority and dealer in Fine Art.
In 1793 or 1794, he again went to the continent in search of fine pictures. Among other places he visited Holland, and remained there until an order arrived from the French government to stop all English citizens then resident there. He was, amongst many others, detained at Rotterdam. It was here that he met Jean-Joseph de Labord
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