William Blair Bruce
(1859 - 1906)

William Blair Bruce Biography
(1859 - 1906)

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, his father an astronomer, did illuminated manuscripts. While his father’s work might have influenced him considerably he did not begin formal art training until he had attended the Hamilton Central School and the Hamilton Collegiate Institute and had spent some time at law study. He left the latter to begin work in an architect’s office as a draftsman and took classes in art in the evenings.

In 1881 he was able to go to Paris where he studied under Fleury and Bourguereau. After five years he returned to Canada with the intention of opening his one person show of 200 paintings but they were lost when the ship which carried them sank in the Gulf of the St. Lawrence. The loss was overwhelming and he suffered a nervous breakdown. He recovered sufficiently to return to Paris where he took up his brushes once more. He met a 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). The site is now preserved by a foundation established by his wife before her death. Bruce painted many large canvases during his career which were then in popular demand.

Source: "A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, Volume I: A-F", compiled by Colin S. MacDonald, Canadian Paperbacks Publishing Ltd, Ottawa, 1977