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Robert Bateman
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 Robert Bateman is a celebrated artist and naturalist known the
world over. His paintings, prized by famous museums, royalty and
art collectors world- wide, reflect his profound reverence for the
natural world, and his limited edition art prints are in great
demand. A zealous spokesman for the environment who has dedicated
his life's work to its preservation, Robert Bateman is prolific,
his art is compelling, and his message is timely.
Born in Toronto, 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
thirties 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. He
was commissioned by the Governor-General of Canada to create a
painting as the wedding gift for HRH The Prince Charles from the
people of Canada. His work is also represented in the collection of
HRH The 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 Institution in Washington, D.C.; most of these shows
have drawn record-breaking crowds. His honors, awards, books, films
and honorary doctorates are numerous. He was made Officer of the
Order of Canada in 1984, the country's highest civilian award. He
was awarded the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of
Achievement. He has been the subject of three films and several
video productions. 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. A fourth book of his art,
Robert Bateman: Natural Worlds, focuses on the importance of
natural and cultural heritage. Safari, an illustrated book for
young readers, contains firsthand accounts and interesting facts
about African wildlife. The book, Thinking Like a Mountain, details
Bateman's environmental philosophies and observations and includes
pencil sketches throughout.
It is in honor of his contribution to art and conservation that
both a public school and a secondary school in Canada have been
named after him. 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 wife, Birgit, to many remote natural
areas.
Bateman's art reflects his commitment to ecology and preservation.
Since the early '60s, he has been an active member of naturalist
clubs and other conservation organizations. This involvement has
increased in recent years and is 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 which 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 work."
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