GREENWICH — The art of the figure is the subject of a new exhibition opening next weekend at The Bruce Museum of Arts and Science. “Figural Art from the Bruce Museum Collection” highlights approximately a dozen paintings from the Bruce Museum’s permanent collection and is on view through November 14. The exhibition presents a variety of approaches to the figure — from the classical and narrative to a more modern examination of the inner psychology expressed by gesture, posture, and facial expression.

One of the most recent additions to the Bruce collection will be on display. “Young Girl,” circa 1900, by William Merritt Chase (American, 1849-1916), was purchased in 2002 as part of an effort to continue to improve the museum’s art collection.

William Merritt Chase was a highly versatile artist, who painted in a wide variety of styles and addressed many subjects. Best known for his plein-air landscapes, in this work Chase shows his mastery as a portraitist in the tradition of great masters of the loaded brush, such as John Singer Sargent.

“Young Girl” was the first major figure painting by an American Impressionist to enter the Bruce Museum’s permanent collection, which is better known for its Impressionist landscapes.

“Priscilla” by Benjamin Franklin Reinhart (American, 1829-1885) was a gift to the Bruce Museum by Nancy Lee Hamilton Thrasher. In addition to portraiture, the artist specialized in genre and historical painting and produced works dealing with subjects ranging from the crucifixion to Cleopatra, Benjamin Franklin, Pocahontas and Captain Kidd. The painting has been recently cleaned and its frame restored, as part of the Bruce Museum’s ongoing conservation program.

“The Broken Flower Pot” depicts two not-so-innocent looking children standing beside an ornate but damaged flowerpot that has been upended. Clearly intended to teach children a lesson in what was right and wrong, the piece is typical of the anecdotal emphasis and moralizing of much late 19th Century genre painting.

Artist Jan Verhas (Belgian, 1832-1896), who was born and trained in Belgium and the painter who created “The Broken Flower pot,” had great success with genre painting and was honored as a Chevalier of the Legion d’Honneur in 1881. The oil on board was a 1946 bequest to the museum by George Norris Morgan in memory of Ethel Boies Morgan. 

Another 1946 bequest to the museum by the same donor is “Brittany Girl,” a wonderful example of the peasant subjects for which Daniel Ridgway Knight (American, 1839-1924) is known. The painting exhibits the detail, vibrancy and crisp drawing characteristic of this artist’s style, and it was undoubtedly executed en plein-air, working out-of-doors directly from nature.

Knight was an American painter trained at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and in France with the painter Charles Gleyre. His use of peasant subjects reflects the influence of two other French painters, Jules Breton and Jules Bastien-Lepage. Knight settled permanently in France in 1871 and began exhibiting peasant subjects at the Paris Salon four years later.

Other artworks in the exhibition include paintings by Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, Ammi Phillips, Ralph Earl, Edwin Blashfield, and a canvas painted jointly by the famed animal artist Rosa Bonheur and her brother Auguste aptly titled “Brotherly Love.”

The exhibition is on view in the museum’s Bantle Lecture Gallery, which may close due to public programs taking place. Call ahead to confirm viewing hours.

Also On View

The Bruce Museum has three additional exhibitions on display this summer, with something to offer for all ages and interests.

“Simply Sensational: An Exploration of the Senses” remains at the museum through August 1. The family-oriented exhibition illustrates how humans and other animals use their senses to survive in, and derive pleasure from, the complex, dynamic world in which we live.

Animal mounts and interactive displays underscore the role of the senses in perceiving and responding to natural phenomena, friends and foes, and daily pleasure.

The exhibition is presented from five different viewpoints: “A Sense of the Elements,” where visitors will experience changes in the physical environment as a storm develops; “Sense of the Enemy,” where visitors thrill to sights, sounds, and smells that spell danger; “Sense of Attraction,” in which visitors learn how beauty, fragrance and sound are used to attract a mate; “Sense of Pleasure,” where visitors delight in the sound of music, the act of dancing and the feel of luxurious fabric; and “Sense of Curiosity,” where visitors explore how the world we perceive with our sensory organs is interpreted by our brains.

Through September 12 the museum is also presenting “Off the Wall: Works from the JPMorgan Chase Collection.” This exhibition presents a rare chance to see selections from the renowned JPMorgan Chase Art Collection, one of the foremost corporate art collections, which includes both classic modern as well as the best contemporary works of art. The Bruce Museum is grateful to JPMorgan Chase for making their collection available for exhibition.

The exhibition focuses on the drawings in the collection, which are especially important not only because they mirror the collecting focus from its inception in 1959 to the present, but also because drawing itself has become one of the most significant means of expression in the late twentieth century. The exhibition features approximately 65 outstanding two-dimensional and sculptural works, all defined as drawings and selected from a collection of over 20,000 artworks that are installed in JPMorgan Chase offices worldwide.

Finally, the 1961 film The Misfits was the haunting, final film of two screen legends, Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable. “Through the Eyes of Magnum Photographers: Filming The Misfits” features photographs of the film’s production documented by a group of nine photographers from the renowned agency Magnum Photos – including such acclaimed artists as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bruce Davidson, Elliot Erwitt, Cornell Capa, and Inge Morath.

The provocative exhibition combines great photography, film history and popular culture and will have its first American showing at the Bruce Museum of Arts and Science from July 5 through October 17.

The Bruce Museum of Arts and Science is at 1 Museum Drive in Greenwich. It is situated near Interstate 95, Exit 3, and is a short walk from the Greenwich rail station.

Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm; and Sunday 1 to 5 pm; and closed Mondays and major holidays (it will be closed Sunday and Monday, July 4-5, for the Independence Day observation).

General admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and students, and free for children under five and members. Admission is free for all visitors on Tuesdays.

An additional fee may be charged for select exhibitions. Groups of 12 or more require advance reservations. Museum exhibition tours are held Fridays at 12:30 p.m. Free, on-site parking is available.

The Bruce Museum is accessible to the handicapped.

For information, call the Bruce Museum at 203-869-0376 or visit www.BruceMuseum.org.