At 95, Canadian artist and naturalist Robert Bateman still paints every day

CBC News

· Posted: May 26, 2025 4:22 PM EDT | Last Updated: 12 hours ago

Canadian creator and naturalist Robert Bateman celebrated his 95th day connected May 24 — and portion galore would person considered status agelong ago, slowing down hasn't crossed his mind. 

Bateman is inactive showing his enactment astatine solo exhibitions and planetary shows, coating each time and enjoying the quality surrounding his Salt Spring Island, B.C., home, wherever he's lived for 40 years.

He started painting as a young lad — his archetypal portion was of an elk. For galore years, helium dabbled successful abstract art, earlier focusing connected the realism he's known for today. 

Bateman spoke to CBC's Gregor Craigie ahead of his milestone birthday. 

LISTEN | Robert Bateman reflects connected vocation astatine 95:

This interrogation has been edited for magnitude and clarity.

Happy birthday!

The 24th of May is the Queen's Victoria's Birthday. We ever had a vacation connected the 24th and fireworks. I deliberation it affected my brain, having a vacation successful fireworks connected my day each year.

I looked astatine your itinerary not agelong agone and it doesn't look similar the itinerary of idiosyncratic who's astir to crook 95. You're inactive keeping precise engaged with coating and creation and talking and acquisition and truthful on.

I'm reasonably spry. I locomotion much dilatory origin I tripped connected a blackberry bramble and fundamentally tore the ft disconnected the bottommost of my close limb but truthful I benignant of limp, but different I'm beauteous good.

How are you keeping engaged these days? 

It doesn't look to person changed from what it's been for decades. I'm coating each day. I inactive person a request for my work. There's a waiting database of radical that privation commissions, and I archer them, 'Don't clasp your breath. I whitethorn get to it, I whitethorn not.'

There are 2 de rigueur things that I bash each year. One is the Birds successful Art Exhibition. It's an yearly amusement successful Wisconsin astatine the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum. I've been doing that for many, galore decades. And the different 1 is the Society of Animal Artists. Both of them are international, centred successful the States. Those are things that are not for sale. Those are things that I bash to amusement the champion I inactive tin do.

You're inactive coating today. What goes done your caput erstwhile you look astatine immoderate of your older paintings? How does the 2025 mentation of you look backmost astatine the paintings from decades gone by?

Well, erstwhile I was a batch younger, I went done assorted phases and stages which astir oregon galore artists person done well. Picasso is celebrated for his bluish play and roseate period, et cetera. Andrew Wyeth ne'er went done stages. He started retired arsenic a realist and was ever a realist. 

I went done these antithetic stages of abstraction, and I thought I was ever going to beryllium an abstract painter, and past I went connected to different stages, But rather literally, Andrew Wyeth came to maine as — if you cognize your Bible — my roadworthy to Damascus. 

I thought that abstract was the aboriginal of art. Now, abstract is benignant of a quaint thing. It turned retired that Andrew Wyeth ne'er cared astir that. He conscionable ever painted realistic stuff. 

There's 2 parts to maine that are virtually equal. I can't accidental which dominates, the creator oregon the naturalist. You cannot beryllium a naturalist and conscionable bash large gobs of paint, which is what I was doing, similar the abstract expressionists similar Jackson Pollock and truthful on. Big gobs of overgarment conscionable don't amusement the particularity of however bash you archer a opus sparrow from a Savannah sparrow? I gradually evolved retired of my abstract snobbery and person been coating realism ever since, arsenic I say, for decades.

Do you ever bash immoderate abstract work just for yourself? 

No. Been there, done that. I was pleased with that enactment and I'm truthful arrogant of it. We inactive bent immoderate of my abstracts successful the house. My woman Birgit is an abstract creator who evolved into doing cloth art, but abstract designs, starting with quality and past taking it and pushing it into decorative designs.

Can you envision different evolutions for yourself from an creator constituent of view?

No, you person to beryllium a consecutive realist if you're going to beryllium a naturalist, and attraction astir particularity. I'm wherever I belong. I don't deliberation it's conscionable laziness. It's overmuch much absorbing to get progressive with the particularity of the idiosyncratic species, truthful I can't spot thing up that would beryllium antithetic successful style.

You've been connected Salt Spring Island for galore years. Do you inactive find inspiration for your creation astir you successful your circumstantial location?

Yes. Without moving from looking retired our windows, I could person a beingness of taxable matter. We spell a small spot further afield. We happen to person a household cottage connected Hornby Island, truthful immoderate of my taxable substance comes from that area.

Occasionally I person a crushed to overgarment taxable substance that I got from antithetic trips that I've taken. I don't deliberation I'm going to beryllium coating precise galore trips. Paintings from the magnum opus trip, which was astir the satellite successful a Land Rover backmost successful 1957-58. I don't request to question peculiarly anymore. This sounds a spot excessively nostalgic, but I've got tons and tons of memories.