William Henry Bartlett (1858-1932) NEAC RBA was an accomplished artist and draughtsman, focusing primarily on landscape painting and subjects associated with the sea. He was one of the founding members of the NEAC in 1885.
In the late 1870s Bartlett travelled to Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts under Jean-Léon Gérôme and at the Académie Julian under William-Adolphe Bouguereau. Through his study in Paris, he found influence from Jules Bastien-Lepage, who has been credited with leading the emergence of the Naturalist school.
This inspired Bartlett’s use of genre and pastoral themes that can be seen in his work. He returned to London in 1880 where he began exhibiting in the Royal Academy and in 1889 he was presented with a silver medal at the Paris exhibition.
Bartlett's principal focus was landscape painting. During the 1890s, he passed several summers in Connemara, County Galway, drawing inspiration from the local inhabitants and rugged scenery. He completed several paintings on Irish rural life and its landscape.
Bartlett was one of the founders of the New English Art Club (NEAC) in 1886 and also a member of the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA). He also exhibited numerous times with the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA) and the Royal Academy (RA) and has been published in the Art Journal.
The Fine Art Society presented a one-man show of Bartlett’s work. Few records remain of any further solo shows apart from an undated "Irish Landscape Exhibition" and one at the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork.
He is represented in The National Gallery of Ireland, and in the Ulster Museum, Belfast, as well as public galleries in England including Bradford, Brighton, Bristol, Leeds and Liverpool, and Melbourne, Australia.
Futher ReSOURCES
You can view a selection of William Henry Bartlett's paintings on the ArtUK website.
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