Willem Leendert Bruckman (1866 - 1928) – The “roman Bath” Circa 1900

Oil on panel
Signed lower right
Titled on the back “The Roman bath”
Dimensions: 51 x 40 cm With frame: 71 x 61 cm

A gentle summer day under the foliage of the trees

The painting represents a Roman bath in the air free where bathers relax in a pool surrounded by an Italian garden. We find numerous characters in a setting of ancient Roman ruins framed by statues, pergolas, flowerbeds and sculptures. The painter depicts the swarming of people going to bathe in the baths in an atmosphere of the gardens of Babylon. The inclination of the garden is sloping and gives us a view of a landscape in perspective. The key is vibrant and the scene is bathed in a lovely light.

Biography

Dutch painter Willem Leendert Bruckman (also known as William Leonardus Bruckmann) was born in The Hague, Netherlands. He studied architecture and painting at the Academy Voor Beeldende Kunsten in The Hague. In 1897, he moved to England where he worked as a painter and illustrator. He exhibited at the Royal Academy, the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colors and the Pastel Society in London, the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool, the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol and the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts. He lived in London, then in Great Bardfield, Essex. He died in Laren, Netherlands.

Museums

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
England, Leeds Museum