Title/Subject: The Rt Revd David Edward Jenkins, DD, Lord Bishop of Durham, 1984-1994
Date: 1994
Medium: Oil
Exhibited: 1994: Royal Society of Portrait Painters
Description/Notes:

There is an elegance to George Bruce’s paintings, a sense of measured understatement. In this portrait, the Rt Revd. David Jenkins sits in the robes worn by the Bishops of Durham at the coronation of monarchs, holding the Bible he was given at the time he was ordained. In the lower left hand corner stands a miner’s lamp, given to him in thanks for the support he offered during the strike.
The artist found the Bishop very different to the figure portrayed in the press, a profoundly spiritual man with a unique turn of phrase. At one salient point in the portrait, as the likeness was coming together, the Bishop’s only comment was ‘Whoopee for now’.
The rhythm created by the Bishop’s robes moves across the canvas in one long and sinuous movement like the flame of a candle. Yellows and golds are underscored by deep blue, highlighting the shimmering whites of the hair and rochet. When the portrait was completed, the Bishop commented that he wasn’t given to outbursts of exuberance but the painting has turned out as he hoped’.
(From the RSPP 1994 Catalogue)

Title/Subject: The Rt. Rev. The Lord Ramsey of Canterbury
Date: 1983
Medium: Oil
Exhibited: 1983: Royal Society of Portrait Painters / Royal Academy Summer Exhibition • 1991: RSPP Centenary
Description/Notes:
This is the third portrait of Dr. Ramsey by George J. D. Bruce.
“Arthur Michael Ramsey, Baron Ramsey of Canterbury PC (14 November 1904 – 23 April 1988) was the one hundredth Archbishop of Canterbury. He was appointed on 31 May 1961 and was in office from June 1961 to 1974.” [Source: Wikipedia]
This portrait hangs in Lambeth Palace, London

Title/Subject: The Right Rev Maurice Harland, Bishop of Durham 1956 – 1966
Date: 1969
Medium: Oil
Exhibited: 1969: Royal Society of Portrait Painters
Description/Notes:
Bishop of Croydon (1942-1947), Bishop of Lincoln (1947-1956)

Title/Subject: Arthur Michael Ramsey DD, as Archbishop of Canterbury
Date: 1965
Medium: Oil
Exhibited: Royal Society of Portrait Painters • 1965 / Royal Academy Summer exhibition • 1965
Description/Notes:
This is the second of three portraits of Dr. Ramsey by George J. D. Bruce.  Dr. Ramsey was Bishop of Durham from 1952-1956. In 1956 he became Archbishop of York and, in 1961, Archbishop of Canterbury.
It hangs in Auckland Palace, Bishop Auckland, seat of the Bishops of Durham

Title/Subject: The Most Rev. and Right. Hon. The Lord Archbishop of York, Dr. Donald Coggan, as Bishop of Bradford
Date: 1961
Medium: Oil
Exhibited: 1961: Royal Society of Portrait Painters
Description/Notes:

Title/Subject: The Most Reverend and Right Hon. The Lord Archbishop of York, Dr. A. M. Ramsey
Date: 1958
Medium: Oil
Exhibited: 1958: Royal Society of Portrait Painters
Description/Notes:
This is the first of three portraits of Dr. Ramsey, painted by George J.D. Bruce