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Born in Toronto, Robert Bateman has been a keen artist and naturalist from his early days.
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He has always painted wildlife and nature, beginning with a representational style, moving through impressionism and cubism to abstract expressionism.
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In his early thirties he moved back to realism as a more suitable way to express the particularity of the planet.
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It is this style that has made him one of the foremost artists depicting the world of nature.
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In the '70s and early '80s, Bateman's work began to receive critical acclaim and to attract an enormous following.
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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
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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.
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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.
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His honors, awards and honorary doctorates are numerous; he was made Officer of the Order of Canada, the country's highest civilian award. He was awarded the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement.
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He has also 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.
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A fourth book of his art, Robert Bateman: Natural Worlds, focuses on the importance of natural and cultural heritage.
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Safari, an illustrated book for young readers, contains firsthand accounts and interesting facts about African wildlife.
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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.
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With a degree in geography from the University of Toronto, Bateman taught high school for 20 years, including two years in Nigeria.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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