Bert visited the corridor of an old school shown here, which is now used as a center for artists, twice during the Kralingen-Crooswijk Art Route in 2015 and 2021. The old school is in the Lambertusstraat 104 in the Rotterdam district of Kralingen. The school building has 13 studios, which house artists from different disciplines.
This painting depicts the upper hallway of the building. Striking are the two parquet planers who work on the wooden floor. Bert was inspired by the parquet planers following the painting of the same name (Les raboteurs de parquet) by the French painter Gustave Caillebotte who painted it in 1875. In his painting Caillebotte shows three men at work. In the work of Bert there are two (given the width of the corridor). Moreover, they are mirrored in relation to the work of the French painter. The painting by Caillebotte now hangs in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.
Wall posters are also depicted on the right-hand side and furniture and the like are stored in the ceiling above the light portal at the end of the corridor. In the hallway are boxes with paintings and picture frames for the painters in the building.
Bert Hermans was born in 1947 in The Netherlands. His work consists mainly of oil paintings, with his major theme being industrial and cultural heritage. Hermans has followed several courses in acrylic, water media and oil painting, starting in 1985 at the Dutch Art School SKVR in Rotterdam in The Netherlands. The last decade his work mainly is concentrated on oil paintings.
Hermans has had exhibitions in eight countries in Europe, in the USA, China and Japan. He won several art prices. His works have been published in many art books and his artwork has been published and sold worldwide.