Ludwig Willem Reymert Wenckebach, better known as Willem Wenckebach, was a versatile Dutch artist. He worked as a painter, illustrator, book binding designer and graphic artist, and was best known for his watercolors for Jac's Verkade albums. P. Thijsse, in addition to collaborations with Jan Voerman Jr. and Jan van Oort.
In 1878 Wenckebach apprenticed with D.P. van Lokhorst and Jacob Eduard van Heemskerck van Beest in Utrecht, after which he studied in Paris between 1880 and 1884 thanks to a Royal Grant. Back in the Netherlands, he became a member of Genootschap Kunstliefde and developed a friendship with Anthon van Rappart, with whom he often painted 'en plein air'.
Wenckebach, known for his landscape paintings, was also friends with figures such as Hendrik Petrus Berlage and Antoon Derkinderen. He exhibited regularly at Arti et Amicitiae and had solo exhibitions at art dealers from 1910. His work, mainly in the style of the Hague School, focused on landscapes in areas such as Wolfheze, Drenthe and the Dutch dunes.
After 1917 Wenckebach focused entirely on painting and stopped illustrating. He also taught at the Applied Arts School in Haarlem, with students such as his cousin Oswald Wenckebach and others such as Rie de Balbian Verster-Bolderhey and Johan Briedé.
