Born in Hamilton, Ontario, the son of William Bruce and Janet Blair. His father was an astronomer who later became a patent attorney in Hamilton and also did illustrations and illuminated manuscripts. William Junior did not begin formal art training early. He attended the Hamilton Collegiate Institute. He then studied (1877) at the Mechanics Institute (which later became the Hamilton School of Art). He worked as a draughtsman and a clerk at the Hamilton Writing Institute prior to 1878 then entered the office of an architect where he worked as a draughtsman for two years (1878-80). He left the architect’s office to study art. In 1880 he was able to go to Paris where he studied under Fleury and Bourguereau at the Académie Julian (1881-82). As a student he began to work outdoors and he spent some time with English and American artists in the village of Barbizon and became influenced to some degree by the technique of the Impressionists. After five years he returned to Canada to hold a solo show of 200 of his paintings. The ship carrying his work sank in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The loss was understandably overwhelming for the artist and he suffered a nervous breakdown. He recovered sufficiently to return to Paris where he took up his brushes once more. He met Swedish sculptress, Karoline Benedicks and they were married in 1888 and turned to their art with dedication. They spent their summers in Sweden and winters in France and founded a small artists’ colony on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea (100 miles south of Stockholm). They travelled in France, Italy, Capri, Muskoka (Can.), Lapland and Corsica. His work covered a wide range of subject matter including mythological, portrait, genre, landscapes, seascapes, and seashore scenes with bathers. A few of his titles were, Bathing Women at the Mediterranean, Wheelsmith in the Country, Old Fisherman, Workhorse in Fog, Indian head, Religious Ceremony, Sun Effect in Forest, Parisienne, Hawthorn in Bloom, Dinner on an Atlantic Steamer, Haystacks Outside Visby, Flight of the Swans, Birch Forest in Snow, Old Walloon Blacksmith, Bathing Woman, Capri (NGC), The Smiths (NGC), Joy of the Nereids (NGC), Setting Moon, Brucebo (NGC), Portrait of the Artist’s Wife (AGO), The Phantom Hunter (AGH). He held an exhibition of 130 paintings in Stockholm in 1897 and in 1901 won a gold medal for his canvas The Bathers Capri shown in the Canadian Section of the Pan American Exposition at Buffalo. A description of Bruce’s work was given by R. Washburn in the Art Gallery of Hamilton News (1959) as follows, “Bruce was fascinated with the play of light upon water and produced many marine paintings with this in mind. Sunlight, moonlight and harbour lights at night play a large part in his work.” He showed a lively interest in archaeology, music, poetry. William Blair Bruce died suddenly at Stockholm in 1906, at the young age of 47 while working on a large canvas. A retrospective exhibition of his work was held in 1907 at Paris and the catalogue contained coloured reproductions of many canvases in the show. After his death his wife and his father arranged the shipment of a number of his paintings to the City of Hamilton for a memorial collection which became the nucleus of the original Art Gallery of Hamilton. There are not many large works in Canada by Bruce except four paintings in the NGC, two in AGO, and the donated coll. in the HAG. Most of his works are in Stockholm, or Gotland at Brucebo, and the Visby Museum. A very few, one or two a year, usually small in size, are sold by auction in Canada. Miss Belle Barron of Hamilton, a relation of the artist, made an extensive study of him and collected many slides of his paintings. A donation of land surrounding the Bruce family home was given to the City of Hamilton and named Bruce Park. One of the most informative accounts was given by Patricia Godsell in her book Enjoying Canadian Painting (1976).
Colin S. MacDonald
A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 (online only), by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker
National Gallery of Canada / Musée des beaux-arts du Canada