Provenance

Mrs. Ailsa Mellon Bruce

American, 1901 - 1969

Explore Selected Works

See all 189 works of art
John Downman, George Mills, 1792, pastel with gray and brown wash on two overlapped sheets of laid paper joined at the top, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.145

George Mills

John Downman · 1792 · pastel with gray and brown wash on two overlapped sheets of laid paper joined at the top ·  Accession ID  1970.17.145

André Derain, Abandoned House in Provence, probably 1920/1935, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.29

Abandoned House in Provence

André Derain · probably 1920/1935 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1970.17.29

French 19th Century, Melon and Lemon, c. 1900, oil on canvas on wood, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.33

Melon and Lemon

French 19th Century · c. 1900 · oil on canvas on wood ·  Accession ID  1970.17.33

John Ferneley, Heaton Park Races, 1829, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.110

Heaton Park Races

John Ferneley · 1829 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1970.17.110

At least one rowboat occupied by two people floats on a lake, which is surrounded by lush green vegetation in this vertical landscape painting. The scene is loosely painted with short and long parallel brushstrokes, so some details are difficult to make out. The white of the four geese lining the bank near us break up a color palette almost entirely dominated by spring, mint, and sage green and royal and baby blue. Three of the geese stand in a line and the fourth bends down to peck at the grass. A bed of deep pink flowers is indicated with touches of vibrant color to our right of the geese. One person wearing a golden yellow garment and a butter-yellow hat rows the boat near the center of the lake. A smudge of cobalt blue could be another person in that boat. Other curved lines in the water could be additional boats or may be reflections in the lake’s surface. Barely discernable, a person, possibly holding a stick, stands among the tall trees lining the opposite bank. The horizon line comes about three-quarters of the way up the composition, and the sky above is painted with watery blue, pale yellow, and ivory-white brushstrokes. The artist signed the work with dark letters near the lower left corner: “B. Morisot.”
Berthe Morisot, Girl in a Boat with Geese, c. 1889, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.50

Girl in a Boat with Geese

Berthe Morisot · c. 1889 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1970.17.50

Henry Edridge, Woman Seated at a Table, Holding a Letter, watercolor over graphite, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.150

Woman Seated at a Table, Holding a Letter

Henry Edridge · · watercolor over graphite ·  Accession ID  1970.17.150

John Downman, Mrs. George Mills, 1783, charcoal and pastel on laid paper, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.146

Mrs. George Mills

John Downman · 1783 · charcoal and pastel on laid paper ·  Accession ID  1970.17.146

André Derain, Road in Provence, probably 1920/1935, oil on canvas, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.28

Road in Provence

André Derain · probably 1920/1935 · oil on canvas ·  Accession ID  1970.17.28

A long-haired, small white dog with tawny-brown ears and spots sits on a garnet-red cushion in this loosely painted vertical portrait. The dog looks just to our left with large, round, black eyes under perked eyebrows. Long, floppy ears hang to either side of its short muzzle. A snub black nose glistens over its downward curving mouth. The long fur on the dog’s body is painted with visible strokes in white and silvery gray. Its thin front legs are braced near a black and white ball, which rests at the edge of the cushion near the lower right corner of the composition. The background is coffee brown, and the artist signed the lower right corner with black paint, “ed. Manet.”
Edouard Manet, A King Charles Spaniel, c. 1866, oil on linen, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.17.36

A King Charles Spaniel

Edouard Manet · c. 1866 · oil on linen ·  Accession ID  1970.17.36

Netherlandish 16th Century, The Four Cardinal Virtues: Temperance, c. 1550/1600, undyed wool warp, dyed wool and dyed silk, Ailsa Mellon Bruce Collection, 1970.20.5.b

The Four Cardinal Virtues: Temperance

Netherlandish 16th Century · c. 1550/1600 · undyed wool warp, dyed wool and dyed silk ·  Accession ID  1970.20.5.b

Bibliography

1969

  • Obituary, The Evening Star, August 26, 1969: B4.

  • Obituary, The New York Times, August 26, 1969: 41:3.

  • Pittsburgh Press. August 29, 1969: 46.

  • The New York Times. August 26, 1969: 41.

  • The Washington Evening Star. August 26, 1969:B-4.

1971

  • Cott, Perry B. "The Ailsa Mellon Bruce Gifts." The Connoisseur 178, no. 718 (December 1971): 249.

1978

  • Hersh, Burton. The Mellon Family: A Fortune In History. New York, 1978.