Art
The Bruce Museum’s art collection includes approximately 3,200 works spanning the mid-nineteenth century to the present day, with particular strengths in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American art by members of the Cos Cob art colony.
The Bruce Museum hosted annual exhibitions between 1912 and 1926 by members of the Greenwich Society of Artists, many of whom were leading figures of the Cos Cob art colony. Acquisitions from those exhibitions form the nucleus of the Museum’s collection of American Impressionism, including work by Emil Carlsen, Childe Hassam, Elmer Livingston McRae, Mina Fonda Ochtman, and Leonard Ochtman. Since that time, the Museum has deepened its holdings in nineteenth- and twentieth-century American and European art across a wide range of media, namely paintings, sculpture, decorative arts, and works on paper. Photography represents a rapidly growing area of the collection.
The collection strategy for the Bruce will continue to emphasize the trajectory of modernism from 1850 to the present day, encompassing global contemporary art as part of its focus.
Charles Harold Davis, The Old Pasture
Charles Harold Davis, The Old Pasture
Charles Harold Davis (American, 1856–1933) The Old Pasture, n.d. Oil on canvas Bruce Museum, 00029
Childe Hassam, The Mill Pond, Cos Cob, 1902
Childe Hassam, The Mill Pond, Cos Cob, 1902
Childe Hassam (American, 1859–1935) The Mill Pond, Cos Cob, 1902 Oil on canvas Bruce Museum, 94.25
Elmer Livingston MacRae, Tea in the Arbor
Elmer Livingston MacRae, Tea in the Arbor
Elmer Livingston MacRae (American, 1875–1953) Tea in the Arbor, 1911 Oil on canvas Bruce Museum, 90.09
Emil Carlsen, Peonies
Emil Carlsen, Peonies
Emil Carlsen (American, born Denmark, 1853–1952) Peonies, circa 1897 Oil on canvas Bruce Museum, 00030
George Wharton Edwards, River Road
George Wharton Edwards, River Road
George Wharton Edwards (American, 1859–1950) River Road, 1918–1919 Oil on canvas Bruce Museum, 00028
John Henry Twachtman, Grey Day
John Henry Twachtman, Grey Day
John Henry Twachtman (American, 1853–1902) Grey Day, circa 1887–88 Oil on canvas
Leonard Ochtman, October Morning
Leonard Ochtman, October Morning
Leonard Ochtman (American, 1854–1934) October Morning, 1919 Oil on canvas Bruce Museum, 00031
Mary Nicholena MacCord , Front Door
Mary Nicholena MacCord , Front Door
Mary Nicholena MacCord (American, 1864–1955) Front Door, circa 1890 Watercolor and gouache on paper Bruce Museum, 93.16
Matilda Browne, August Morning
Matilda Browne, August Morning
Matilda Browne (American, 1869–1947) August Morning, circa 1919 Oil on canvas Bruce Museum, 00026
