 
Robert Bateman was born in Toronto in 1930. He has always painted wildlife and nature, and is best known for the realism with which he paints his subjects. This style has made him one of the most well known artists depicting the world of nature.Bateman earned a degree in geography from the University of Toronto, and then taught high school for 20 years. Since leaving teaching in 1976 to paint full time, he has traveled widely to many remote natural areas. He has published several best-selling books of his art. His art reflects his commitment to ecology; he has become a spokesman for several environmental and preservation issues, and has used his artwork in many fundraisers. In Canada, he has been honoured with Officer of the Order of Canada, and has had a public school and a secondary school named after him. Bateman says: "People often ask how long it takes me to do a painting. The answer is, I don’t know. I work on five to fifteen at once. I like them when I first start them, then they always get worse so I start a new one to cheer me up. By the time the fifth one looks really awful to me, the first one doesn’t look quite as bad, and a new idea about it may have come along so I can work on it for a while. One took me about six years off and on!" You can see some samples of Robert Bateman's art below. Click on an image to magnify it. Click on the big image to shrink it again.
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