Hendricus Petrus Bremmer (1871-1956)

Independent art educator and adviser; van Gogh and Dutch artists scholar Bremmer started at the Teeken- en Schilderacademie (Academy for Drawing and Painting) in The Hague in 1889. He quit after one year and together with some friends he rented a studio in Leiden. Two years later he moved to the attic of his parents' hotel and started working on his own. At that time he met the Dutch avant-garde painter Jan Toorop and other artists belonging to his circle, including Theo van Rijsselberghe and Henri van de Velde. These two painters, who together with Toorop were members of the Brussels group Les Vingt, stayed in Hotel Rijnland when visiting Leiden. From 1896 onwards he decided to paint less and focused more on lecturing about art-appreciation.

One of Bremmer's favorite painters was Vincent van Gogh. In 1907 he became a purchasing adviser to Helene Kröller-Müller (1868-1939), one of his pupils and wife of an industrial magnate. Bremmer helped build her collection, which included a considerable number of Van Gogh paintings.