| Robert Bateman | |
| Birth Name: | Robert McLellan Bateman |
| Birth Date: | 1930 5, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
Robert McLellan Bateman[1] (born 24 May 1930) is a Canadian naturalist and painter, born in Toronto, Ontario.[2]
Bateman was always interested in art, but never intended to make a living from it. He was fascinated by the natural world in his childhood; he recorded the sightings of all of the birds in the area of his house in Toronto and created small paintings with birds in their habitats. He found inspiration from the Group of Seven; later, he became interested in making abstract paintings of nature, strongly influenced by the work of Franz Kline.[3] [4] It was not until the mid-1960s that he changed to his present style, realism. In 1954, he graduated with a degree in geography from the Victoria College in the University of Toronto. Afterwards, he attended Ontario College of Education. Starting in 1957, Bateman travelled around the world for 14 months in a Land Rover with his friend J. Bristol Foster. As they made their way through Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and Australia, Bateman painted and sketched what he saw.
Bateman became a high school teacher of art and geography, and continued focusing his life on art and nature. After two decades as a high school teacher, he became a full-time artist in 1976. A year later Mill Pond Press started making signed, limited edition prints of some of his paintings; over the years, these prints resulted in millions of dollars being raised for environmental causes. His work started to receive major recognition in the 1970s and 1980s. Robert Bateman's show in 1987, at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, drew a large crowd for a living artist.[5] In 1999, the Audubon Society of Canada declared Bateman one of the top 100 environmental proponents of the 20th century.[6]
He is also a spokesman for several environmental and preservation issues, using his art to raise funds for these causes. The majority of Bateman's paintings are in acrylic on various media, and have been shown in solo exhibitions around the world.[7] He has been the subject of several films and books including The Art of Robert Bateman (1981), The World of Robert Bateman (1985), An Artist in Nature (1990), Natural Worlds (1996), Thinking Like a Mountain (2000), Birds (2002), New Works, (2010), Life Sketches (2015), Bateman’s Canada (2017) as well as several children's books.
Robert Bateman Secondary School in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Robert Bateman High School (currently closed) in Burlington, Ontario, and Robert Bateman Public School, Ottawa, Ontario are named for him. He is an Honorary Director of the North American Native Plant Society, and has received numerous honours and awards, including Officer of the Order of Canada and fourteen honorary doctorates from institutions such as the University of Victoria, University of Toronto, Royal Roads University, and McGill University.[8]
At 93, Robert continues a schedule of painting daily and advocating for nature awareness and conservation.
The Bateman Foundation, a national public charity, uses artwork to promote a connection to nature and the environment. Established in 2012 by Robert Bateman, the Foundation grew from his philosophy that by helping people reconnect with nature, they will be inspired to conserve and protect it. Through educational programs, community collaborations and Bateman Gallery exhibitions, the Foundation has influenced a generation of people to build a deeper relationship with the natural world.[9]
The purpose of the Foundation was to promote the preservation and sustainability of the environment by:
Robert Bateman is already aligned with child-in-nature philosophies. He is associated in the public mind with pro-nature education by his work, writings and public speaking. He is regarded by the national and international conservation community as a “hero” because of his lifelong support. He is a natural and gregarious teacher and his artwork is considered instructive. Robert Bateman is also perceived by many to be one of the voices of reason and hope for healthy, rejuvenated and creative engagement with the natural world:
From the beginning of time we have been connected to nature, but for the first time in history, that connection threatens to be broken for most of an entire generation and perhaps generations to come. When children play in nature – climb trees, build forts and dams in creeks and go exploring – here is what happens: they have less obesity, less likelihood of developing attention deficit disorder, lower rates of depression and suicide, less alcohol and drug abuse, less bullying, plus, they get higher marks…nature is magic.[10]Bateman’s Sketch Across Canada was a nationwide project started by the Bateman Foundation. They achieved their goal of distributing 33,000 free sketchbooks across the country, asking Canadians to venture outside and, in the words of Robert Bateman, “become bright-eyed three-year-olds again”.
The Bateman Foundation's flagship NatureSketch Program started in 2016 as a volunteer managed family program in Victoria. NatureSketch is an eco-literacy curriculum that encourages individuals to develop a personal connection to nature by teaching them how to observe and appreciate the natural world through art. The program is inspired by the artistic practices and personal philosophies of Robert Bateman and has been implemented in several major cities across Canada, reaching over 20,000 participants by 2023.
In 1960, Robert Bateman married Suzanne Bowerman, having three children: Alan, Sarah, and John. He would then go on to marry Birgit Freybe Bateman in 1975, having two children: Christopher and Robert.
In the early 1980s, Bateman and Birgit moved to Salt Spring Island. The couple purchased a home located on Reginald Hill Road, looking out on Fulford Harbour, that was designed by Hank Schubart and originally built for actress Eileen Brennan, (d. July 28, 2013) In the early 2000s, the Batemans moved from the Reginald Hill house to a house on a lake in Salt Spring designed by their son in law, Robert Barnard.