رابرٹ بیٹ مین- Tryon Gallery - London 1975

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Tryon Gallery - London 1975​

کچھ عرصہ قبل میں نے رابرٹ بیٹ مین کی ماسٹرز گیلری 2006 میں پیش کی گئی تصاویر پیش کی تھیں۔ آج آپ تمام احباب کے سامنے رابرٹ ہی کی London Tryon Gallery میں 1975 میں نمائش کے لیے پیش کی گئی تصاویر حاضر ہیں۔ یہ زیادہ تر آرٹ Wildlife سے متعلق ہے۔

جن تصاویر کی تفصیلات رابرٹ نے ساتھ مہیا کی ہیں۔ وہ بھی تصاویر کے ساتھ ہی شامل کر رہا ہوں۔

Short-eared Owl

Polar Bears at Baffin Island
“Polar bears age generally loners. They seldom co-operate on the kill, and mated pairs are rarely seen together. The female, however, will spend a long time with her one or two cubs, giving them lessons of the hunt. Sometimes the young bear can be almost as big as its mother before it goes out on its own.

“In this painting, I have been gazing into the landscape which is the direction I want the viewer to gaze. Three-dimensional form is important in all of my paintings, but I especially enjoyed playing with it in this one. I would like the viewer to be carried back across the pack ice, past the sea mist and up the rugged valley. As we move up the valley, we explore waterfalls, cliffs and concave and convex slopes.

“Finally, we reach the top and the permanent ice cap, which has formed into a massive, simple sculpture.”

 

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White-tailed Deer Study

Bald Eagle Head Study

Buffalo Head Study

 

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Hooded Mergansers in Winter
In many ways, the hooded merganser is one of the most elegant of waterfowl. The striking black, white and vermiculated rust give it an almost exotic look. The silky crest and golden eyes increase the effect, and yet it is a bird of very unexotic habitat - rather ordinary swamps. The female, of course, is subtle in colour, so that she will not be noticed going to and from the nest and when she is swimming with her flotilla of downy young.

Mergansers belong to a special sub-group of ducks in that they have narrow bills with saw-tooth edges for grasping fish.
I have shown this pair in a snowy setting. Although they mostly migrate to the south in winter, it is not unusual to see them in suitable open water with snowy banks. The main thing, of course, is that the water should be open for them to feed.

The view is partially from above so that the pattern of snow-covered rocks and birds can relate to the negative shapes of the water. This is a device very often used by Japanese print-makers, particularly in interior scenes. This composition suited me because I wanted a quiet, intimate feeling. The red berries were added to draw the attention away from the strong bull-eye's effect of the bird.?

Fox at the Granary
“The red fox is found all around the temperate zone. He has a sort of love/hate relationship with mankind. He has exploited man wherever possible, but his beautiful fur and crafty ways have earned him a begrudging admiration.

“In England, the most blue-blooded outdoor activity is the fox hunt, which is more of a gallop across the countryside than a hunt. The only element of sport is the fact that the cleverness of the fox in evading the hounds makes it somewhat of a challenge.

“This fox is sniffing at the open door of a very old barn in the early morning. Because of his persecution, he will be hidden most of the day. If he finds anything worth eating here, it would be a rat or mouse, and it would be of help to the farmer. Actually, the unusual supports for the barn are carved stone pillars which are used to keep out the rodents.”

 

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Trumpeter Swans & Aspen
“The trumpeter swan is the largest of our native swans. It is a bird of beautiful country in the west, and a bird which was brought to the brink of extinction. In fact, I did this painting for an endangered species exhibition in 1975. Since that time its recovery has been remarkable. It is one of the good news stories resulting from the efforts of environmentalists, conservationists and the general public in recent years. It is not all 'doom and gloom'. There are some positive trends, which encourage us to greater efforts on the other main tough problems facing our wildlife and environment.

“In this painting, I included one of my favourite trees, the aspen. Because of their soft wood, older aspens often lose branches in storms giving the trees an oriental, bonsai look. I followed up with the theme of the Japanese screen by treating the whole picture in a flat, delicate manner. One of the characteristics of traditional Japanese art is the use of empty, negative space. To achieve this effect without sacrificing realism, I used a fairly high vantage point looking down on calm water. I used a gentle yellow-green and olive colour harmony to contribute to the tranquility of the scene.”

Demidov’s Galago
“For two years I taught high school geography in southeast Nigeria. It was a remarkable experience not only because of the high scholastic demands of the students and the rich and complex West African culture, but also because of the natural environment of the tropical rainforest. Since I was a boy I had been reading the entertaining animal collecting stories of Gerald Durrell. Perhaps my favourite was the Bafut Beagles, which took place in the Cameroons.

“We lived in the same habitat about a day's drive from Bafut.
As soon as I was established and had got my bearings of the local area, I sent word out to the nearby villages that I would pay money for small wildlife. Most of these went to the collection of the Carleton University Museum but some went to the Bronx Zoo Small Animal House. The most spectacular of these were the bush babies.

“There are a number of species of bush baby (6 genera, 16 species). Ours was the seldom seen Demidov's galago. If we humans are at the ‘top’ of the primate family tree then lemurs are at the evolutionary ‘bottom’. Demidov's galago is the smallest member of ‘our’ family. A full grown adult would nicely fill a teacup. We had five of them and although they lived in cages we would take them out one at a time to play around the room and around us. They would scamper over our heads and poke their fingers in our ears, which resulted in a sticky feeling. Afterwards I learned that, being nocturnal, they would find their way back to their nest in the forest canopy by urinating on their hands and feet on their way out, and that is why they were sticky. I have shown this one eyeing a large tropical beetle which it may or may not succeed in catching.”

 

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Rhino and Oxpecker

Pride of Lions at Samburu

Cheetah Siesta

 

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Baobab Tree & Impala
“Sculptural forms in nature visually excite me. The trunk of this baobab tree reminds me of a great castle or a piece of mountainous landscape. The textures are varied and interesting and reflect the events that have taken place in the life of the tree.”

Wildebeest Head Drawing

Crowned Crane Head

 

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Buffalo at Amboseli

Red-billed Hornbill

 

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Leopard & Thomson Gazelle Kill
“This scene of the leopard with its Thomson gazelle prey was one I actually witnessed. In all of my trips to Africa, I have only once seen an actual kill, although I have been present after the fact on a number of occasions. Witnessing a leopard making a kill would be very difficult since they hunt mostly at night in areas of thick cover.

“This particular kill would not have been typical as Thomson gazelles generally avoid thick cover. They in fact prefer broad, short-grassed plains not only for the food, but also so that they can see approaching predators. Either this kill was made at night or the Thomson gazelle was very foolish and came too close to the thick vegetation along the river where the leopard was lurking.

“The leopard has hauled its prey up into the tree to keep it away from hyenas and lions that would be all too eager to steal it. As often happens, the predator is in no rush to eat. The activity of catching the prey and dragging it to safety is usually exhausting.

“This is a quiet, benign scene. I wanted to emphasize tranquility rather than a mood of vicious killing. There is, however, tension and mistrust still in the leopard's eyes.”

Wildebeest at Sunset

Dik-diks

 

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Vulture and Wildebeest
The balance of nature is a story of life and death. Virtually all living organisms depend on other organisms for food; in most cases, when something is eaten, its life must end.

Even the building of our homes or the printing of our newspapers involves the death of trees and sometimes whole forests. Too often we refuse to face this fact. We buy our meat neatly packaged in plastic; in fact, our entire lives seem to be done up in neat packages. We are often simply consumers, with less and less involvement in the real world, decision making, or the consequences of our actions. We can see this in the crisis of our forests, our soils, our garbage and our pollution.

This painting shows the tougher side of nature, but it is nonetheless real and important. I found the imagery very exciting. It gave me the chance to have fun with vivid colours and the repetition of very strong forms, as shown in the skull, horns, claws and beak. I think this is one of my more powerful and interesting works.

Elephant Herd & Log

Crowned Cranes Flying – Ngorongoro

 

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Driftwood Perch
“The striped swallow is a bird which is found in Africa, but they are like swallows the world over. They are trim and streamlined, and they seem to be in motion even when at rest. Even though they seem delicate, they appear hard, almost as if they were sculpted out of metal. I especially like the tight little head.

“No matter where they live in the world, swallows, of course, feed on the wing. These striped swallows swooping over an African river reminded me of the cliff swallow I have seen darting after insects over some river in America. Indeed, the typical place to see striped swallows is near a river in dry savanna country. The clue to this location is in the painting. The wood on which the swallows are perched is water worn. This kind of country is normally dry but subject to sudden heavy rainstorms. The streambeds can fill with raging torrents which erode the banks and sweep away the uprooted trees.

“This perch appealed to me because of its texture, its sculptural shapes and the way it echoes the form of the birds.”

Waterbuck & Sacred Ibis Flying