Born in the Dutch East Indies, Wilhelm Bleckmann moved to The Hague in 1893 at the age of 40. He enrolled at the Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam, where his teachers were August Allebé and B. Wijnveld. Bleckmann built up a varied oeuvre ranging from scenes of colonial life to Dutch villages, rivers, flower bulb fields, still lifes and portraits, all painted in an impressionistic style. His daughter Tjieke, also an accomplished artist, married the figure and genre painter Albert Roelofs.