 Robert
Bateman has been a keen artist and naturalist from his early days. He has always painted wildlife and nature,
beginning with a representational style, moving through impressionism and cubism to abstract expressionism. In his
early 30's he moved back to realism as a more suitable way to express the particularity of the planet. It is this
style that has made him one of the foremost artists depicting the world of nature.In the '70s and early '80s,
Bateman's work began to receive critical acclaim and to attract an enormous following. His work is in many public
and private collections, and several art museums, including the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole,
Wyoming. He was commissioned by the Governor-General of Canada to create a painting as the wedding gift for HRH
Prince Charles from the people of Canada. His work is also represented in the collection of HRH Prince Philip, the
late Princess Grace of Monaco and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. Bateman has had many one-man museum shows
throughout North America, including an exhibition at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.; most of these
shows have drawn record-breaking crowds. His honours, awards and honorary doctorates are numerous: he was made
Officer of the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian award in 1984. He has also been given the Rachel
Carson Award (1996), the Golden Plate from the American Academy of Achievement (1998) and the Order of British
Columbia (2001); he was named one of the 20th Century's Champions of Conservation by the U.S. National Audubon
Society (1998).
Through his long association with Mill Pond Press, thousands of wildlife lovers the world over have been able
to enjoy Bateman prints. Three books of his art The Art of Robert Bateman, The World of Robert Bateman and Robert
Bateman: An Artist in Nature have made publishing history having sold more than three quarters of a million
copies. A fourth book of his art, Natural Worlds, focuses on the importance of natural and cultural heritage. Two
recent releases are Safari, an illustrated book of African animals for young readers and Thinking Like a Mountain,
an environmentalist's look at the world. Bateman's Birds has been released [Fall 2002]. He has also been the
subject of several films. It is in honour of Bateman's contribution to art and conservation that a public and a
secondary school have been named after him.
Born in Toronto, with a degree in geography from the University of Toronto, Bateman taught high school for 20
years, including two years in Nigeria. He traveled around the world in a Land Rover in 1957/58, increasing his
appreciation of cultural and natural heritage. Since leaving teaching in 1976 to paint full-time, he has traveled
widely with his artist/conservationist wife Birgit to many remote natural areas.
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Bateman's
art reflects his commitment to ecology and preservation. Since the early 1960's, he has been an active member of
naturalist and conservation organizations., now on a global scale. He has become a spokesman for many
environmental and preservation issues and has used his artwork and limited edition prints in fund-raising efforts
that have provided millions of dollars for these worthy causes. He says, "I can't conceive of anything being
more varied and rich and handsome than the planet Earth. And its crowning beauty is the natural world. I want to
soak it up, to understand it as well as I can, and to absorb it… and then I'd like to put it together and express
it in my painting. This is the way I want to dedicate my life." |
