Sold for: $28,125

PROVENANCE
Collection of Madison Press Books, Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto

LITERATURE
Ramsay Derry, The Art of Robert Bateman, 1981, page 8, reproduced page 9
Ramsay Derry, The World of Robert Bateman, 1985, page 21
Bateman Foundation Gallery of Nature, #69 - Stream Bank, June by Robert Bateman, May 31, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOjFGSGkW04

EXHIBITED
Lynnwood Art Gallery, Simcoe, Ontario, 1978
National Museum of Natural Sciences, Ottawa, Images of the Wild, 1981-82
Portraits of Nature, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington DC, 1987
The Robert Bateman Centre Victoria, British Columbia, extended loan

Stylistically, this work marks an important moment in Batemans work. In 1967 after painting in a cubist and abstract manner, Bateman expressed that he was “into realism with full force.” Author Ramsay Derry notes that the artist acknowledged his stylistic development and integrative approach, stating that “behind the realism there are dominant abstract shapes and rhythmic patterns developed out of cubist techniques.” Stream Bank, June, completed in 1968, demonstrates the artist’s prowess and integration of his artistic education.

Robert Bateman explains that Spring Bank, June was inspired by the following passage by Charles Darwin;

“It is interesting to contemplate an entangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and dependent on each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by laws acting around us.”

Please click here to view a video of Bateman discussing Stream Bank, June.

It is not surprising that Darwin’s words were a fruitful creative impetus for Bateman, whose art practice has been dedicated to depicting and celebrating nature and the complex beauty of ecological systems. Bateman discusses further thoughts and inspiration for Stream Bank, June in this video. Bateman’s capacity for detail and exactitude is overt in this work. While it is easy to get lost in the meticulous details of the scene, the subject itself is quite contemplative. Bateman notes, “I deliberately picked an ordinary, common place, complicated and confused chunk of nature.” He illustrated the entangled mesh, and inextricable connectedness of ecology both literally and metaphorically. This painting acts as a microscope, illustrating the vast complexity within the seemingly simple and minute.

While the inspiration for this work stems from the 19th Century, the painting also has contemporary resonance. Stream Bank, June prompts introspection on the inter-connectedness of ecology and the inextricable complex relationship of civilization and nature. It is a quiet, yet forceful meditation on cause and effect.

All prices are in Canadian Dollars

Although great care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of the information posted, errors and omissions may occur. All bids are subject to our Terms and Conditions of Business. Bidders must ensure they have satisfied themselves with the condition of the Lot prior to bidding. Condition reports are available upon request.