Albert Bruce-Joy

Irish sculptor

Albert Bruce-Joy
Bruce-Joy c. 1890
Born	21 August 1842 (1842-08-21) Dublin
Died	22 July 1924 (1924-07-23) Shottermill
Nationality	Irish
Known for	Sculpture

Albert Bruce-Joy (21 August 1842 – 22 July 1924) was an Irish sculptor working in England. His original surname was Joy but he became known under his hyphenated name Bruce-Joy later in life. He was the brother of the painter George W. Joy.

Biography

Son of William Bruce Joy, MD, Bruce-Joy was born in Dublin but educated in Offenbach am Main, Paris and at King's College London.^[1]

He trained as a sculptor with John Henry Foley at the National Art Training School, South Kensington, and the Royal Academy Schools. He began exhibiting at the Royal Academy from 1866 onwards.^[2] In 1867 he gave an address in Rome where he is said to have spent three years.^[3]

After his return to London, Bruce-Joy took over the commission for a statue of Robert James Graves for the Royal College of Physicians in Dublin. This was originally given to the late John Foley (died 1874) who had previously finished three statues for the College. This marked the start of his specialisation in portrait statues, busts and medallions which were praised at the time for their likeness, and for which he is now mostly known.

Bruce-Joy built his house in Shottermill near Haslemere in 1891, and travelled to America twice in his life.^[4]

Works

(a detailed list is given at the University of Glasgow's database^[3])

Statue of John Laird (1877) in Birkenhead.^[5]
Statue of William Harvey (1878), Surgeon, The Leas, Folkestone, Kent.^[6]
Statue of James Whiteside (1880) in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.^[7]
Monument known as the Ayer Lion (1880) sculpted from Italian marble for the grave site of James Cook Ayer in Lowell Cemetery, Lowell, Massachusetts.^[8]
Statue of Gladstone (1882) in front of Bow Church, Bow, London.^[9]
Statues of John Bright (1891),^[10] and Oliver Heywood (1894)^[11]^[12] in Albert Square, Manchester.
Statue of Alexander Balfour (1905) in St John's Gardens, Liverpool.^[13]
The Victoria and Albert Museum in London holds three marble busts by Bruce-Joy, including Sunshine which was shown at the Royal Academy in 1866.^[14]

Gallery

John Laird in Hamilton Square, Birkenhead
William Harvey in Folkestone, Kent
James Whiteside in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin
Ayer Lion, Lowell Cemetery, Massachusetts
Statue of Gladstone in Bow, London
John Bright in Manchester's Albert Square
Oliver Heywood in Manchester's Albert Square
Alexander Balfour in St John's Gardens, Liverpool

References

^ Kate Newmann, in: Dictionary of Ulster Biography.
^ "Albert Bruce-Joy (1842-1924), Sculptor". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
^ ^a ^b Albert Bruce Joy ARHA, RHA, Mapping the Practice and Profession of Sculpture in Britain and Ireland 1851-1951, University of Glasgow History of Art and HATII, online database 2011, accessed 04 Dec 2012.
^ Victorian Web.
^ Statue of John Laird, Public Monument and Sculpture Association, archived from the original on 9 February 2012, retrieved 1 January 2012
^ "William Harvey statue". Himetop (The History of Medicine Topographical Database). Retrieved 29 August 2019.
^ James Whiteside by Albert Bruce-Joy, The Victorian Web, retrieved 1 January 2012
^ Lowell Historical Society (2006). Lowell: The River City (illustrated ed.). Arcadia Publishing. p. 46. ISBN 9781439632680. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
^ "London's Hidden History Bow Church". Modern Gent. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
^ "John Bright". Manchester Art Gallery. 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
^ "Oliver Heywood". Manchester Art Gallery. 2009. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
^ Wyke, Terry (2004). Public Sculpture of Greater Manchester. Liverpool University Press. p. 21. ISBN 0-85323-567-8.
^ Alexander Balfour by Albert Bruce-Joy, The Victorian Web, retrieved 1 January 2012
^ Diane Bilbey with Marjorie Trusted (2002). British Sculpture 1470 to 2000 A Concise Catalogue of the Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum. V&A Publications. ISBN 1851773959.