Natural Worlds (Hardcover)

by Robert Bateman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Canadian artist and naturalist Bateman travels the world observing birds and animals in their natural habitats, and this stunning collection of his paintings, lithographs and sketches?beautifully reproduced in full color?is a tribute to his awareness of the interconnectedness of living things as well as his skill as an artist. The amazingly detailed works are elegant and haunting?a snow-white egret silhouetted against the dark waters of a mangrove swamp, a giant panda peering through a filigree of ice-laden branches, a tiny frog almost hidden in a clump of beach grass, timber wolves emerging from the shadows of a snowy forest. There are also sensitive depictions of a deserted Indian village off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island, a stableyard in a remote village in northeastern Poland and the winter barnyard of his grandfather's farm in eastern Ontario, places the artist holds dear because humans have lived there in harmony with nature. Archbold's (Robert Bateman: An Artist in Nature) lucid text aptly describes Bateman's travels, his reverence for wilderness and his concern for the preservation of biological diversity.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
From George Stubbs to J. J. Audubon to Edwin Landseer to Beatrix Potter, specialists in realistic animal portraiture are among the most enduringly popular artists. The current dean of such artists is the Canadian Robert Bateman. This is the fourth lavish album displaying his art in ravishing color and at gratifyingly large scale: several reproductions completely fill one or two pages, and many more nearly do so. The pictures are grouped geographically according to where the creatures depicted live: "The Western Shore" (of Canada), "The Arctic," "The Tropics," etc. The accompanying text, for which professional writer Archbold is given credit, is cast in Bateman's voice and relays his ecologically conscious thoughts and a few experiences as an artist in the field. The former tend to be--however true or good--conservationist commonplaces. The latter include the occasional piquant revelation, such as Bateman's discovery as a teenager that painting outdoors entailed the suicides of "hundreds, possibly thousands, of mosquitoes" on his canvases' "still-gooey surfaces." Ray Olson

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (October 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670868930
• ISBN-13: 978-0684829869
• ASIN: 068482986X
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 11.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #868,616 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb artwork in the classical Bateman tradition!, January 3, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews

This is a wonderfully illustrated book for those who love nature and wildlife art and are enthusiasts of Robert Bateman. He takes us through a journey around the world to his favourite nature spots and then reveals the beauty and complexity of those sites through his inspired artwork. A must for wildlife art enthusiasts.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Yes, very nice, but..., August 10, 2007

By	Sabad One - See all my reviews

...I think here Mr Bateman was already going downhill a bit. The first two books of his that I purchased, when I was a kid, were absolutely marvelous. The world or Robert Bateman and The Art of Robert Bateman remain two of the best wildlife art books ever published. Awe-inspiring pictures, where the landscape is at least as important as the animal. Maddening detail, and fantastic colors. Then Mr Bateman, maybe, has become too popular for his own good, and his pictures have become (while still masterfully crafted) much more conventional, and sometimes somewhat rushed. I believe I own all his books, but after the first two, I like the others in decreasing order of appearance.

If you like this book, my recommendation is to purchase the two volumes I mentioned above, which in my opinion are largely superior to this one (and can be easily purchased for a few bucks on the used market).

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb artwork in the classical Bateman tradition!, January 3, 1999

By A Customer

This is a wonderfully illustrated book for those who love nature and wildlife art and are enthusiasts of Robert Bateman. He takes us through a journey around the world to his favourite nature spots and then reveals the beauty and complexity of those sites through his inspired artwork. A must for wildlife art enthusiasts.