The Bruce-Benedicks Saga and the Birth of the AGH While living
in Paris in the 1880's, the budding young Canadian artist,
William Blair Bruce , met the aristocratic Swedish sculptress,
Caroline Benedicks . They fell in love, married, and eventually
established themselves in a permanent year-round residence,
Brucebo , on the western seashore of Gotland Island in Sweden.
From their artistic union two significant institutions in the
world of fine art were to evolve – the birth of the Art Gallery
of Hamilton in Canada and the creation of the Brucebo Fine Art
Scholarship Foundation in Sweden. The saga of William and
Caroline’s life-story spans one of the most exciting phases in
European contemporary history, including its fine art
development. It comprises the last quarter of the 19th century
and the decades leading up to World War II. The era is
characterized by dramatic transformations in not just
technological and industrial developments, but also in social
and cultural institutions, including the world of art