Possible Self-Portrait

This beautiful self-portrait depicts Bulmer in a relaxed pose, legs crossed as he leans back against a wall. The painting has an air of spontaneity about it, as if captured purely in the moment. The colour palette is warm, consisting of yellows, oranges and deep greens, and generates a cosy and intimate atmosphere. The background and Bulmer’s outfit are painted with loose strokes that still allow for a sense of detail - for example, in the folds of his jumper. There is a high attention to detail on Bulmer’s face, particularly in regard to areas of shadow around his nostrils and chin - as well as the artist’s characteristic drooping eyes.

Lionel Bulmer

Lionel Victor Bulmer was born in Wandsworth, London, in 1919 as the son of an architect. He attended Clapham Art School in 1937, but his study was cut short when he was conscripted into the military at the start of the Second World War. Bulmer continued to paint and draw in his spare time, before returning to painting full time when the war finished. He was accepted to the Royal College of Art - which, at this time, had been relocated to the Lake District - where he met Margaret Green, who would later become his wife in 1991.

At the Royal College of Art, Bulmer studied under Ruskin Spear, Charles Mahoney and Carel Weight. When the institution moved back to London, Bulmer and Green followed, although they soon embarked upon travels through France and Ireland courtesy of a scholarship that Green had won. Both Bulmer and Green became teachers at art schools to fund their careers, with Bulmer teaching at Kingston School of Art. During this time, Bulmer exhibited at Leicester Galleries, the Royal Academy, the New English Art Club and the Royal Watercolour Society.

Eventually, the two moved to West Suffolk, and it was this landscape that became immensely inspiring to the art of Bulmer and Green. Aldeburgh, Southwold and Walberswick were particularly striking, and feature in many of their works.

Lionel Bulmer passed away in February of 1992, the year after he married Margaret Green. Messum’s Fine Art organised two retrospective exhibitions in 2002, one focusing on Bulmer’s works of Walberswick and the other on both him and Green.