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Edward Caledon Bruce (May 26, 1825 - November 24, 1900)
Early life
Edward Caledon Bruce was born on May 26, 1825, in Winchester, Virginia. His parents were John Bruce (1795-1855) and Sidney Smith Bruce (1794-1874). John had emigrated from Scotland and became a prosperous teacher and businessman, playing a role in the Shenandoah Valley's first railroad. Sidney was born in the Tidewater region of Virginia to wealthy parents, who later moved their agriculture business to the Shenandoah Valley. Bruce's parents were both well-educated and had a large social network. Around the same time Bruce began showing an interest in art by copying portraits of his ancestors, he fell ill with scarlet fever. Complications from the disease resulted in Bruce becoming deaf around the age of 14.
In his late teens Bruce began studying with artist Thomas Sully in Philadelphia. Bruce's painting techniques, including brushwork and poses, were influenced by his time with Sully. When he was 20, Bruce traveled to New Orleans to deliver a portrait. He kept a diary during his trip, including his ride down the Mississippi River. During his journey, Bruce kept a diary that gives insights into the Antebellum South. In his diary, Bruce suggested he carried a notebook to write down what he thought people were saying to him and his written response.
In one diary entry, Bruce wrote: "It was like another glimpse of the world to me - shut out for six years by the iron hand of sorrow...it is better to think to some purpose, and think to live instead of living to think. I have much to be thankful for, and in all that I have set my heart on my success has been encouraging...thank God I have my sight yet - all Nature can speak to me through that sense." Bruce joined the American Art-Union and returned to Winchester to start his career. He married Eliza T. Hubard, a native of Norfolk, with whom he had two daughters. The Bruce family owned five slaves, which he may have communicated with by teaching them to read, despite anti-literacy laws in Virginia.
Career
During his career, Bruce not only painted portraits, but was an author, illustrator, and the editor and publisher of the Winchester Virginian. He was a regular contributor to Harper's Weekly, both before and after the Civil War, and the Lippincott's Monthly Magazine. He authored several books and a 250-page volume about the 1876 Centennial Exposition.
Legacy
In his obituary in The Richmond Dispatch, Bruce was described as one of the state's best known antebellum editors whose articles were immensely popular. It was also noted he was an "ardent secessionist", an "artist of ability", and whose portrait of Lee was the "only canvas portrait of that general taken from life." The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV) describes Bruce as "one of the Shenandoah Valley's most talented native painters." Bruce's works include over 70 surviving paintings, many of these portraits, which are held in various museums and private collections.
The MSV is home to the largest single collection of Bruce's portraits, many of which are ancestors of Julian Wood Glass Jr., displayed in the Glen Burnie house. The partial-length portrait of Lee is on display in the National Portrait Gallery, which acquired it in the 1970s. A self-portrait hangs in Abram's Delight, a historic house museum in Winchester. The Virginia Historical Society holds a collection of 19 items related to the Bruce family, including the painting Lee's Headquarters, October 1864, amongst other works by Bruce. Bruce is included in the Library of Virginia's Virginia Deaf Culture Digital Library, which is a digital map highlighting key figures and places in the state's deaf culture.
References
- ^ "Edward Caledon Bruce: A Deaf Artist in the Shenandoah Valley". Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. September 25, 2020. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- ^ "Old Editor Dead". Richmond Dispatch. November 25, 1900. p. 18. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- ^ Powers, A. Nicholas (2020). "Edward Caledon Bruce: A Deaf Artist in the Shenandoah Valley". The Magazine of the Decorative Arts Trust. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- ^ Powers, A. Nicholas. "All the Beauty and Fashion of the City: Edward Caledon Bruce in New Orleans" (PDF). The Historic New Orleans Collection. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- "A List of Members of the American Art-Union for the Year 1850". Bulletin of the American Art-Union (3). 1850.
- "Virginia Heraldry". The Baltimore Sun. March 4, 1906. p. 5. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- Parker, Kathryn (2006). Images of America: Winchester. Arcadia Publishing. p. 20. ISBN 9780738543154.
- "Miss Elsie Jacqueline". The News Leader. January 13, 1912. p. 8. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- "Periodicals". Virginian. December 4, 1885. p. 5. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- Morton, Frederic (2009). The Story of Winchester in Virginia: The Oldest Town in the Shenandoah Valley. Heritage Books. p. 228. ISBN 9780788417702.
- Huntsberry, Mary D. (September 28, 2007). "Museum Showcases Valley history, culture". The Winchester Star. p. 6. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- Richard, Paul (February 12, 1977). "Portrait Gallery Acquisitions". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- "Robert E. Lee by Edward Caledon Bruce". Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- "Edward Caledon Bruce, 1855". Handley Library. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- "Virginia Historical Society Annual Report for 2012" (PDF). Virginia Historical Society. 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- "Library of Virginia Creates A Digital Map Of Virginia's Deaf Communities". Daily News-Record. May 1, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2023.