Carolina Benedicks-Bruce

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Carolina Benedicks-Bruce, photograph from 1901

Carolina Benedicks Bruce (born on 28. October 1856 as Carolina Maria Benedicks in Stockholm , died on 16th February 1935 in Väskinde ) was a Swedish sculptor and graphic artist . She lived in France for several years and was married to the Canadian painter William Blair Bruce . Your Brucebo home is now an artists' museum .

Life

Carolina Benedicks was born in Stockholm in 1856. Her parents were Edward Otto Benedicks and his wife Carolina, nee Cantzler. The father managed the family-owned ironworks in Gysinge in the municipality of Sandviken . Her siblings included Gustaf Benedicks , who later became a member of the Swedish parliament, and Carl Benedicks, who later became professor of physics . The artistic talent may have come from the mother's family. Her uncle Johan Cantzler was a well-known painter who, for example, designed some of the Swedish banknotes. Her uncle Axel Leopold Cantzler was also active as a painter and also as a sculptor. After the death of her father in 1877, she was financially independent by inheritance.

Carolina Benedicks-Bruce is working on the sculpture L'obsède

Carolina Benedicks received her artistic training from the painter August Malmström . From 1881 to 1885 she studied at the art school Kungliga Konsthögskolan Stockholm , where she was the first woman to attend the sculpture class. The painter Hilma af Klint was one of her fellow students . In 1883 she visited Paris and the Swedish artists' colony in Grez-sur-Loing . Here she met artists like Carl Larsson , his wife Karin , Bruno Liljefors and August Strindberg . After completing her studies in Sweden, she moved to Paris in 1885, where she became a student of the sculptor Alexandre Falguière . In the summer of 1885 she met the Canadian painter William Blair Bruce . When he returned to Canada in the fall of that year, she followed him with an uncle in 1886 and visited him in his hometown of Hamilton , Ontario . Carolina Benedicks became engaged to William Blair Bruce in the fall of 1886 and both returned to Europe at the end of the year. The couple stayed in Visby on the island of Gotland for three months from May 1888 . Both married in Stockholm at the end of 1888. The couple had a daughter who died as a toddler. In France, the couple initially settled in Saint-Nazaire , but moved on to Grez-sur-Loing in May 1889, where they stayed until 1894.

Sculpture Gäsparen by Carolina Benedicks-Bruce

The work of Carolina Benedicks-Bruce is clearly under the influence of the sculpture of the 1870s and 1880s in France and is stylistically located between realism and symbolism . Her work includes large-format sculptures, portrait busts, reliefs and genre-like statuettes. In addition, a graphic work with etchings and watercolors was created, with landscapes and still lifes as motifs. In 1889 she exhibited works in the Swedish National Museum in Stockholm. From 1891 he repeatedly participated in the Paris Salon . She achieved particular success there in 1899 with the sculpture L'obsédé . She also took part in the Paris World Exhibition in 1900 , where she received a bronze medal.

In the first few years of their marriage, the Benedicks-Bruce couple made numerous trips, including to southern France, Rome , Venice and the island of Capri . In 1894 the couple moved into an apartment in Paris in the bohemian Cité Fleurie. In 1895 they both went on a short visit to Canada, where they were mainly guests in Hamilton. In 1899 the couple bought a large piece of land on the island of Gotland, where Carolina Benedicks-Bruce had already spent the holidays as a child. The couple named the house eight kilometers north of Visby Brucebo and moved here permanently in 1900. The house was expanded considerably by 1906. In the winter of 1903/1904 the couple was in Corsica. William Blair Bruce died in November 1906 at the age of 49. Carolina Benedicks-Bruce donated 29 paintings by her husband to his native Hamilton. This Bruce Collection formed the basis of today's Art Gallery of Hamilton .

Carolina Benedicks-Bruce lived on Brucebo until her death in 1935. She campaigned for numerous initiatives in Sweden. She was a supporter in the struggle to obtain women's suffrage and donated funds for archaeological research on Gotland with the Blair Bruce Fund . She was also interested in the preservation of historical monuments and supported, for example, the preservation of the old Burmeisterska huset , a half-timbered house from the 17th century in Visby. Your Brucebo estate is still used for cultural purposes today. The Brucebostiftelsen Art Foundation supports the stay of young Canadian and Swedish artists on Brucebo with grants. The Brucebo Art Museum, run by the foundation, displays numerous works of art by Carolina Benedicks-Bruce and her husband. The surrounding property is now protected as a Brucebo nature reserve .

Works in public collections (selection)

literature

Web links

Commons : Carolina Benedicks-Bruce  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Benedicks-Bruce, Carolina
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Benedicks-Bruce, Karolina; Benedicks, Carolina Maria
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swedish sculptor and graphic artist
DATE OF BIRTH October 28, 1856
PLACE OF BIRTH Stockholm
DATE OF DEATH February 16, 1935
Place of death Väskinde