World of Robert Bateman, The

Markham: A Viking/Madison Press Book - Viking, Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 1985. BOOK: Boards Bumped; Light Shelf Rub to Boards; Moderate Moisture Damage (Including Staining); Edges Lightly Soiled. DUST JACKET: Jacket Encased In Adhesive Clear Plastic Applied By Previous Owner; Lightly Creased; Moderately Chipped. CONTENTS: Robert Bateman and his World; Plates and Commentaries; Appendix. SYNOPSIS: The paintings of Robert Bateman have a powerful impact that photography cannot equal and that few other painters can achieve. His skill at depicting a spectacular variety of birds and mammals in rich, complex settings has brought him to the forefront of his field and to international renown. The Art of Robert Bateman, this remarkable artist's best-selling first book, could contain only a fraction of the major paintings he has produced. Now The World of Robert Bateman offers an entirely new selection of more than ninety paintings, including some of his most recent works, carefully reproduced in accurate full color. Bateman's art depicts wildlife within fully-rendered landscapes, recreating for the viewer the thrilling moment of actually seeing a bird or animal in the wild. His highly developed painterly technique, combined with a thorough knowledge of the natural sciences, enables him to create pictures that are stunningly accurate as well as breathtakingly alive. As one critic has noted, "Beyond the fine detail and atmospheric composition of his paintings . . . he gives the ten percent extra that makes the difference between good and great." From the magnificent game animals of Kenya to a tiny hermit thrush perched beside a Haida totem pole in British Columbia, from an elf owl in an old saguaro cactus in the Arizona desert to a barn owl in an English churchyard, the pictures reproduced here express the full range of Bateman's travels, interests, and talent. The artist's commentaries throughout the book demonstrate his skills as a naturalist and give the reader a fascinating and personal insight into how a Bateman painting is created. The introduction by Ramsay Derry is based on extensive interviews and travels with Bateman, and shows him in action as a teacher, naturalist, conservationist and, always, as a productive and dedicated artist. Robert Bateman, now in his prime as an artist, brings to his work an unparalleled range of experience and appreciation of the natural world. Born in Toronto in 1930, Bateman became obsessed with both art and nature at an early age and spent most of his youth sketching and studying birds and animals. Throughout his twenties and thirties, while maintaining a career as a teacher of geography and art, he explored a broad range of artistic styles - from impressionism and cubism to abstract expressionism. At an Andrew Wyeth exhibition in 1962 he was profoundly influenced by the abstract form within the representational style of Wyeth's paintings. Over the next few years Bateman absorbed this influence and, while living in Africa, began painting the wildlife subjects for which he is now best known. He soon became recognized as a rare and exciting talent, and his paintings are prints began to attract a large following. In recent years Bateman exhibitions have drawn record-breaking crowds to galleries and museums across North America. His work has been featured in such periodicals as American Artist, Audubon and Equinox, in the best-selling book The Art of Robert Bateman and in The Robert Bateman Naturalist's Diary, published yearly. Ramsay Derry, the author of the introductory text, is a Canadian editor and writer with a special interest in the arts who shares Bateman's enthusiasm for the world of nature.. First Edition. Hard Cover. Good/Good. Illus. by Robert Bateman. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.