Customer Reviews

Patrick Henry Bruce: American Modernist

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I was inspired to get this book after seeing several Patrick Henry Bruce reproductions in art magazine gallery advertisements. Bruce is an excellent painter but never received his due during his lifetime as evidenced by the fact that he is a mere footnote, if mentioned at all, in most art history texts. This catalog raisonne from 1979 is the only one I know of and is therefore invaluable and seminal for those interested in Bruce. However, while his later streamlined cubist still-lifes are well represented in the color plates, only four of his early Cezanne-inspired paintings are in color. The early paintings are beautiful and consist predominantly of flower arrangements, foliage and still-life which can be seen in small black and white reproductions in the catalog of his works in the back. These cannot be even close to fully appreciated until they are seen larger and in full color - these were the ones I first saw in the gallery advertisements. Overall it is an excellent book and hopefully in the future there will be a more complete reevaluation of his oeuvre with all of his extant paintings reproduced in color.

Patrick Henry Bruce was in my wife's family. He destroyed most of his works before he committed suicide. This book was a great addition to "family things". Everything about this transaction was first rate......