One of the pleasures of visiting Victoria is the opportunity to visit the Robert Bateman Center. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Bateman, he is one of the greatest living Canadian artists. Many of the paintings on display are old favorites, but each time we’ve been here there is always a special exhibit. This time the special exhibit focuses on his development as an artists with a special emphasis on early work.
This early work shows clearly how influenced he was by the Group of Seven, Tom Thomson and Emily Carr.
Other influences included Andrew Wyeth. Both artists are know for their realism . . . for painting each blade of grass, each feather and strand of fur; but neither of them see their work that way. They only give the appearance of detail. Rather than ‘realist’ painting, they each paint with great emotion and express the deeper meaning behind their choices. Notice the almost hidden elements in some of Bateman’s paintings, contrasting the focal point with something equally important but of differ differing dimensions.
This is but a small taste of the beauty that awaits you at the Bateman Center.
On our way home we saw a Great Blue Heron fishing for it’s dinner . . . a perfect subject for Bateman.
After being inspired by Bateman I did a quick study, not at all in his style . . . but I wanted to do something and the box top on my NuPastels did the trick.
Nu’s Boxtop
Travels With Picasso 