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Lorna Mills and Sally McKay
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Robert Bateman, Burrowing Owl. Image from North Coast Cafe
excertp from Sarah Milroy on Robert Bateman...
Let's be clear: There is no conspiracy operating here. The fact is that Bateman engages with a subject matter that is dear to the hearts of Canadians: the beauty of the natural world. But he describes it in terms that are essentially those of illustration. There is no way in which his handling of paint, or his understanding of what painting is, pushes that medium forward, or even gives it a personal inflection. There is no way in which his paintings reveal interesting thinking about the relationships between man and nature; his environmentally themed paintings, for example, have all the sophistication of Reader's Digest illustrations.interesting letters to the editor (Globe and Mail)...
Over-the-top challenge
Ross Bateman
In her criticism of the Robert Bateman show at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection (A Tale Of Two Shows - Review, Oct. 4), Sarah Milroy has a point of view that neatly wraps a common anxiety of her profession. Her worry is that the public is ignorant and, if it is unfortunate enough to stumble on an art show that panders to this ignorance, it becomes bewildered. If true, it's good this was brought to the public's attention; I don't think it had noticed.
A humble illustrator
Ken Nutt
I have got up off the porch long enough to write to thank Sarah Milroy (A Tale Of Two Shows - Review, oct. 4) for her concern about us small-town folk not knowing enough to defend ourselves from exposure to the art of Robert Bateman. It was helpful of her to give us some guidelines: Abstraction equals good; realism equals bad.