Robert Bateman "Wildebeest"
"The Wildebeest, or brindled gnu, is an odd creature.  It is said to have been made up of bits and pieces which the Creator had left over after He created all of the other animals.  It has the face of a mule, the horns of a cow, the beard of a goat and the body of a horse.  The rather freaky appearance is augmented by the fact that they will suddenly break into unexplained gambolling, almost like a bucking bronco.  These are the animals that occur in the vast herds of Africa.  I have stood on a hill in Kenya and seen tens of thousands stretching to the horizon in all directions.  This would be during the great migration.  Another evidently senseless bit of behavior I have observed is that a procession of hundreds of animals will be walking single file following some unknown leader.  The line, however, will wind in all directions, even going back on iteself."
 - Robert Bateman
This Art is:
NEW 
Hand Signed 
Limited Edition Offset Lithograph (# received may be different than the one in the photo)
Custom Framed in distressed black wood frame and double matted. 
Framed Size : 28" x 33"
Image Size: 21" x 16"
Hanging hardware included on back of frame
Looking for other framing choices?  Contact us!
Wildebeest belong to the family Bovidae, which includes true antelopes, cattle, goats, sheep, and other even-toed horned ungulates. Wildebeest is Dutch for 'wild beast', 'wild ox' or 'wild cattle' in Afrikaans (bees 'cattle'), The name was given by Dutch settlers who saw them on their way to the interior of South Africa in about 1700 because they resemble wild ox. 
 
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Born in Toronto, Robert Bateman has been a keen artist and naturalist from his early days. He has always painted wildlife and nature, beginning with a representational style, moving through impressionism and cubism to abstract expressionism. In his early thirties he moved back to realism as a more suitable way to express the particularity of the planet. It is this style that has made him one of the foremost artists depicting the world of nature.
In the '70s and early '80s, Robert Bateman 's work began to receive critical acclaim and to attract an enormous following. 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. 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. Robert 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. 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. 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. A fourth book of his art, Robert Bateman : Natural Worlds, focuses on the importance of natural and cultural heritage. Safari, an illustrated book for young readers, contains firsthand accounts and interesting facts about African wildlife. The book, Thinking Like a Mountain, details Robert Bateman 's environmental philosophies and observations and includes pencil sketches throughout.
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. With a degree in geography from the University of Toronto, Robert Bateman taught high school for 20 years, including two years in Nigeria. 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.
Robert 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. 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. 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. 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."