Robert Bateman (naturalist)

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Robert Bateman (born 1930-05-24) is a Canadian naturalist. He was born in Toronto. Even as a child he was interested in art and wildlife. He found inspiration from the Group of Seven, making abstract paintings of nature. It wasn’t until the mid 1960’s that he changed to his present style, realism.

Bateman was always interested in art, but he never intended on making a living from it. He was fascinated by the natural world in his childhood. According to the CBC, as a child he recorded the sightings of all of the birds in the area of his house in Toronto. Although the stage was set for an expert wildlife artist, Bateman moved on to be a high school history teacher. However, he still painted in his free time. It wasn’t until the 1970’s and 1980’s that his work started to receive major recognition. Robert Bateman doesn’t have to search himself for a motive to paint, he just enjoys to. His main thought is never if the painting will sell for a huge profit on the market, or whether the critics would like it or not, or if it will be the next Mona Lisa. He lives to paint, and paints to live.

Today, Robert Bateman lives in Saltspring Island in British Columbia with his wife Birgit Bateman. He has five children with two wives. Robert Bateman Secondary School in Abbotsford, British Columbia and Robert Bateman High School in Burlington, Ontario are named after him.

In 2005 Bateman volunteered for an assessment of chemicals present in his body that had a proven negative health effect. The assessment was sponsored by the organization Environmental Defence. 32 carcinogens, 19 hormone disruptors, 16 respiratory toxicants, and 42 reproductive/developmental toxicants were found in his body ^[1].

[edit] References

• http://www.robertbateman.ca
• http://www.cbc.ca/lifeandtimes/bateman.html
• http://www.christcenteredmall.com/stores/art/bateman/robert_bateman_biography.htm
• http://www.batemanideas.com/Default.htm