Brooker was born in Croydon, England. His art interest began early, and when he was 10 years old, he did his first watercolour, a biblical illustration. His family immigrated to Canada in 1905.

He liked nature paintings from a young age but did not immediately become an artist with the goal of earning a living. Brooker had no formal education, but he was skilled in many vocations. He worked with his father on the Pacific Trunk Railway, and he developed his writing and publishing skills, which would later bring him much success.

He was in the motion picture business for some time but concentrated for the most part on editing and publishing. This included being the editor of the Portage Review and other papers. In 1921, he moved to Toronto and served as the publisher and editor for Marketing from 1924 to 1926. His varied interests in literature, art, and music gave him a very clear sense of artistic expression. He developed relationships between abstract forms of music and the composition of paintings. Another interest was clearly religious symbolism in art.

In 1937, he joined the McLaren Advertising firm, and by 1955, he was the vice-president. Bertram Brooker made a striking and original contribution to the graphic arts and illustration community, especially as an amateur. He became a member of the Ontario Society of Artists, the Royal Canadian Academy, the Canadian Group of Painters, and the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolour. After his death, the Art Gallery of Toronto (now the AGO) held a memorial exhibit for him.

Green Movement (c.1927)

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