Charles Bartlett was born in Grimsby Lincolnshire in 1921 and studied at the Eastbourne School of Art and the Royal College of Art.
He taught art for some years before devoting all his energy to his work as an artist and etcher. He later lived and worked near Colchester, where he established his studio and spent many summer months cruising his yacht, which he also used as a studio. The sea shore and lanscape provided a source of immense inspiration for his work.
One of the first British etchers to experiment in colour, he had over the years explored all possibilities of adding texture to the plate and this concentration of shape had led to more abstraction in his work as he explored all aspects of his imagery. Abstraction became strong; he recorded not a topographical rendering of a particular scene but rather the spirit of the place.
Since 1950, Bartlett exhibited widely in England, U.S.A, Canada and South Africa. Official purchases include the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Arts Council of Great Britain, the Department of the Environment and National Gallery of South Australia. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Painters in Watercolour and also a Fellow and vice-president of the Royal Society of Paiter-etchers and Engravers and also edited their journal.