We once again took advantage of our Pass it Around Victoria passes and went to the Robert Bateman Centre. What a great experience! Not only to see the incredible paintings and marvel at the talent that it took to paint them, but to see the heart of this man Robert Bateman and the love between him and his wife in the many love letters on display.
The Gallery has lots of light and the paintings are hung with maximum impact. I came around one corner and saw two paintings and thought, wow, Robert Bateman was a photographer too! Then realized as I got closer that no, they were paintings that were so well done that from a distance they looked like photos.
I loved the variety of sizes of the paintings. The gallery added small boxes under many of the paintings where you could hear the song of the bird that was painted. That made the paintings come alive even more.
I loved the section of Bateman's early work, and the different painting styles the experimented with. Having a daughter that experiments with a by different mediums and styles, this section really was encouraging!
There was also a great explanation of a variety of prints, numbered prints and originals.
We were there about an hour and it was well worth the time spent! I think we all walked out in awe of this amazing artist!