Bruce Crane

Robert Bruce Crane (October 17, 1857 – October 29, 1937) was an American painter. He joined the Lyme Art Colony in the early 1900s. His most active period, though, came after 1920, when for more than a decade he did oil sketches of woods, meadows, and hills. He developed into a Tonalist painter under the influence of Jean-Charles Cazin at Grez-sur-Loing. Crane's mature works were nearly always fall and winter scenes. He usually painted in his studio in Bronxville, New York, where like many of the Tonalists he relied mostly on memories of his outdoor sketching experiences. Selected work can be found at the Florence Griswold Museum and the Newark Museum. He is a descendant of the Continental Congressman Stephen Crane.

Early artistic work Bruce Crane's father, Solomon Crane, was an amateur artist himself and interested his son in the New York art scene from a young age. However, it was a summer trip to the Adirondacks that piqued Bruce's interest in painting after witnessing “a lot of young lady amateur (artists.)” At the age of seventeen around 1874 he moved with his family to Elizabeth, New Jersey where he worked as a draftsman for an architect. In hopes of starting a career in this field, he approached the famous artist Alexander Wyant and asked to start an apprenticeship with him. Wyant asked to see some of Crane's work, but Bruce did not believe that his skills were adequate enough to impress Wyant. Therefore, he declined the request and spent the next year improving his skills before he showed his work to Wyant and began to work with him. They remained friends until Wyant's death. In 1897, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Associate Academician, and became a full Academician in 1901.

Later life Crane grew frail after breaking both of his hips in a fall in 1935, nearly immobilizing him. He spent the remainder of his years in Bronxville before passing on October 29, 1937. He is buried in Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn. Descendants of Bruce Crane can be found living in Virginia and California.