Patrick Henry Bruce
Legendary Artist
Patrick Henry Bruce was an American modernist painter born in Virginia in 1881. He initially studied art in New York before moving to Paris in 1903. He spent most of his career there. His early paintings were influenced by traditional European art and artists such as Paul Cézanne and Henri Matisse. Over time, Bruce moved towards increasingly simplified and geometric forms. His association with Robert and Sonia Delaunay also introduced him to ideas connected with Orphic Cubism and the expressive possibilities of colour. From the 1910s he became particularly known for still lifes constructed from geometric shapes and carefully balanced areas of colour. Although he lived and worked mainly in Paris, he remained connected to American modernism. Much of his work was destroyed by Bruce himself in the 1930s, leaving a relatively small surviving body of paintings. His remaining works are now held in major museums and are recognised as an important part of early American abstraction.