Ernst Oppler (German, 1865-1929) - Bathers, Oil on Canvas Mounted on Board.
Signed.
30x40cm.

Ernst Oppler was the son of Edwin Oppler (1831-1880), a prominent German-Jewish architect. Ernst Opplers brothers were the sculptor Alexander Oppler (1869-1937), the physician Berthold Oppler (1871-1943), and the attorney and notary Siegmund Oppler (1873-1942). His cousin was the designer Else Oppler-Legband (1875-1965).
He studied at the Academy of Arts in Munich under Nikolaus Gysis and Ludwig von Löfftz. Afterwards he moved to London to study the work of James Abbott McNeill Whistler, one of his favorite artists. He became a member of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers in 1898.
In Munich Oppler joined the Munich Secession. In 1904 Max Liebermann invited Ernst Oppler and Lovis Corinth to leave Munich and move to Berlin. Both became there members of the Berlin Secession, a group of artists who championed the new, German Impressionist style.  Ernst Oppler was invited seven times to the Venice Biennale and participated six times.
In 1912 after controversies about expressionism he stopped participating in the exhibitions of the Berlin secession but he still remained one of the most prominent members of the avantgarde. The German state bought works from Oppler and exhibited them in museums as examples of the new wave in art. Oppler started to visit dancing performances of the Russian ballet which was very popular at that time and began to document the performances. He became also an important chronicler of the history of ballet in Germany.