ROBERT BATEMAN ~ AFRICA

The Wise One – Old Cow Elephant

 

Elephants live in fairly complex societies, and within those societies it is the old females that are considered the most important. Virtually all large elephant herds are composed of females and young. When a juvenile male starts taking an interest in the opposite sex, he is expelled from the herd. It is usually the female elephant that is the most dangerous. When the male elephant charges, chances are he is just bluffing. The female usually means business. This is because she would have young to protect. The oldest elephants obviously have the most experience, and one old grandmother is usually the acknowledged leader or wise one. I sometimes get tired of the portrayal of only trophy animals. This old elephant has worn her tusks through years and through countless experiences.

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.”

Power Play ~ Rhinoceros

Rhinos are one of the most impressive and massive land mammals, and they do not usually fool around. If they were to play, their only games would be power plays. A charging bull elephant is often bluffing -- not so the rhino. A rhino will make a pretty serious mess out of any vehicle, which has not helped their fight for survival. Rhinos can handle any natural threat but not modern man and his high-power bullets.

 

Rhinos were never hunted by native African tribes, and even the early white trophy hunters were not a serious threat. In 1970 there were about 20,000 black rhinos in Kenya; today there are fewer than 500. This devastation has been caused by the senseless, frivolous beliefs of people in countries thousands of miles away from the black rhino's domain: in the Orient, rhinoceros horn (consumed in powdered form) is believed to be an aphrodisiac; in the last 15 years, the price of a kilo of rhino horn has risen from $35 to $500. In North Yemen, to be considered a virile young man requires owning a dagger with a handle made of rhinoceros horn; such a dagger now costs more than $15,000.

 

To keep this magnificent beast from extinction, we need a global power play to abolish rhino poaching and the money that supports it. I painted Power Play to raise funds to abolish illegal rhino horn trade and to save this 70-million-year-old species from extinction.

Peaceable Kingdom – Lechwe & Lioness

It was one of those golden evenings, which linger forever in memory. We had spent a day on the go in our corner of the Okavongo Delta in Botswana. We decided to park the vehicle on the game-trampled plain and watch the sun go down. We were there for at least two hours quietly letting the world go by. It was a passing parade of nature at its best. A herd of greater kudu came down for a drink. Elephants rumbled by. Flocks of birds passed to and fro and pied kingfisher hovered over the open water.

The enchantment was complete when a lioness softly padded past us followed by a small, anxious group of female lechwe. The lechwe are swamp antelopes. They were following the lioness, which was not in hunting mode, in order to keep her in sight. If she changed her body language or darted for cover they would be have been gone with great alacrity. This is quite common in predator/prey relationships. Predators virtually never succeed if the prey has seen them well in advance of the charge.

Kopje Lookout – Leopard

 

Leopards lurk. Those of us who love to look for wild animals in Africa are always conscious of that fact. We know that leopards see us many, many times more often than we see them. During my first two safaris I saw plenty of lions and cheetahs but not one leopard. On my next two safaris I saw one each time but that was because someone else's vehicle was parked beside a tree that hid a leopard. The eyes of the guides in those vehicles were obviously sharper than mine. In each case I had been driving along the Seronera River in the Serengeti Park of Tanzania.

This is supposedly the best place to find them. You look up into the branches of the yellow 'fever' acacia trees not for the leopard but for the tail dangling down. Their spotted bodies are so camouflaged you can look right at them and not see them as they are pressed against a branch. It is much easier to spot another vehicle and go over and check what they are looking at.

This is why I have placed the leopard in the cleft of the granite cliff in Namibia. So that they are not so easily seen they often lower their nose so that it is concealed and the head shape is less obvious. I have placed the sunlit bare branches of the fig tree in front to help with the hiding. Of course my real joy in doing this painting was to show the light glancing across the texture of the rock and to play with the forms and textures and warm colours. These plus the tree and the leopard speak to me of the soul of Africa.

Lion at Tsavo

Dusk is a time of activity along the rivers of Africa. Life of the day and life of the night overlap. Also it is a time and place of great danger for those creatures whose lot it is to be captured and eaten by predators.

This mature lion is, however, not on the prowl. His wives do that. He is taking a stroll after his hot, daylong siesta. The river provides not only a place to drink, but the possibility of something interesting to observe and maybe even some easy prey.

I liked the positive and negative shapes of the rocks and water and reflections. African rivers are subject to sudden floods. The ancient rocks are sculptured by the river. In the mud deposits are the textures of the hoof prints of the grassland game. Perhaps they had just been drinking and have moved out of the lion's casual approach

Bluffing Bull – African Elephant

I have been charged quite often by lone bull elephants who were only bluffing. Although I never stood my ground to test them, I felt that their efforts were half-hearted bravado. Even as I departed, I have seen them stop in a swirl of dust, tossing their heads and swinging their trunks to put me in my place.

Londelosi – Cheetah

With their keen eyesight cheetahs can rest and search at the same time. They live a vulnerable existence. Catching and killing prey is tricky and exhausting. But the most serious risk comes from other predators, hyenas and lions. In a tragically high percentage of cases, cheetahs will make a kill only to be robbed of it. They never even try to defend it. Moreover, these predators will kill cheetah babies every time they get the chance.

I like this reaching, peering pose. It reminds me of the action when, in full chase, the cheetah has to make a sudden turn

Crowned Crane Head

Mountain Zebra

Unlike the ubiquitous Burchells zebra, the mountain zebra lives in rugged and remote areas in small bands. Other differences are the unstriped white under parts and braided striping in the tail.

My wife, Birgit, and I were fortunate to see them on several occasions in the Arid Mountains of Namibia. They galloped full tilt across angular, melon-sized boulder fields that seemingly would quickly break any ankle, man or beast.

I chose to portray this individual in evening shadow with a glowing background. One backward glance and then it disappeared over the ridge.

By the River - Elephants

Study of a Wildebeest

Painted Dogs

Painted dog is the recent name for this remarkable animal that used to be called ‘wild dog’ or ‘Cape hunting dog’. I like the name because it describes the kind of random patch pattern of their coats, which is similar to the coat of a "painted" pony or "pinto".

In a way, it fits with their behaviour and social structure, which is active and complex. To watch them is to watch a lively society in action. Their playfulness covers an intense competition for social position and also reinforces connectedness and communication skills that make them the most dreaded hunters in Africa. That is, they are the most dreaded by the prey species. The dogs are relentless in pursuit and use strategy based on co-operation and relationships.

In the painting I have tried to echo the qualities of these dogs in the bouncy, varied patterns of the palms.

Rockface Descent – Leopard

There is something about felines that hold a fascination for human beings. Perhaps it is their mystery and grace. Perhaps it is the fact that our primate ancestors greatly feared this quiet predator of the night. Many aspects of our forebears’ lives that made sense for millennia are still a part of our modern psyche.

This painting grows out of those feelings. If you or I were close enough to see this leopard plunge down this cliff, it would be only seconds before the animal would be upon you. I wanted to instill a feeling of discomfort, partly by the unstable plunging action and partly by the proximity, made closer by cutting off the back part and forepaw of the leopard . . . almost as if he is inside your peripheral vision. The other aspect that excited me was the effort to portray the grace and power of the cat through the muscle, bone and sinew showing beneath the familiar glowing pelt.

The idea for the painting came from seeing a large abstract by Clyfford Still, which I saw at the Metropolitan Museum in New York, in 1980. There was a yellow, vertical slash across a flat brown ground. At that time I had no idea it would be a leopard dashing down grey rocks. It is interesting to speculate on the joining in my psyche of the ancestral dread of leopards and abstract image of Clyfford Still.

Leopard Ambush

There is nothing quite as intense as the stare of a cat that is about to spring on its prey. This applies to the domestic cat looking at a bird or a lioness stalking a zebra. But the most dangerous cat of all is the leopard, and its gaze seems to have a more intense and sinister quality. This feeling is increased by the fact that leopards hunt at night or in the dim light of dusk or dawn.

Leopards are found in a great variety of habitats from Africa to Asia, but they always require protective cover for hiding in dense vegetation or rocks. This is because they generally hunt by ambush. They may hide by a water hole at the same level as the prey, but generally at a higher point to give the added advantage of gravity to the speed of the strike. They will likely land on the back of the victim, bite the neck or throat and rake the sides with hind claws.

In the composition of this painting I have tried to emphasize the direction of the leopard's gaze and the path of his leap by strengthening the diagonal crevices in the rocks. As I painted, the image of a tightly drawn bow and arrow occurred to me. The leopard is the clenched hand of the archer, the lines in the cliff suggest the arrow, and the drip of stains at the left represent the bow. The composition is one of tightly drawn tension which could be released in a flash at any moment.

Waterbuck & Sacred Ibis Flying

Serengeti Dusk – White Storks

One evening in the Serengeti, Birgit and I and our guide stayed out till after sunset watching a couple of lions. The landscape was dark but the sky was still glowing gold when we pulled away to drive back to camp. A flock of white storks was coming in to a long, shallow slough for a final drink and perhaps feed before flying to the trees for the night.

Their busy, varied shapes made interesting patterns against the gleaming water. As I thought about the image for months, the picture of the elegant Japanese screens with gold leaf backgrounds and graceful crane foregrounds kept coming to me. I have always enjoyed the use of gold leaf in those pieces as well as in early Christian icons. It is a bit risky combining the gold leaf with a realistic image but I think that it is worth the try.

The Lion

 
Pride of Lions at Samburu

Rhino and Oxpecker

Lost – Wildebeest

Nature is beautiful. Nature is cruel. But nature doesn’t know it. Nature just is. In the great plains of Africa, the "big game country", all aspects of nature are played out before your eyes. Birth, courtship and death are all connected. And feeding connects everything in a great circle. Everything is either eating or being eaten.

Africa is the only place left on earth where one can view vast herds of ungulates in all directions as far as the eye can see. Although there are many species, by far the most abundant are the wildebeest. In a sense they provide the fodder, the meat, for the predators. They appear to us to be charming and ugly and silly at the same time but their main asset is their fertility. Perhaps that is why they can be careless with their young.

This young wildebeest is only a few hours old. It still has its umbilical cord, but it has already made two mistakes. It went to the wrong female to nurse and was rebuffed, then got confused and lost its mother. The other mistake was to not stay with the herd when it moved along. Wildebeest are constantly on the move and need each other for survival . . . especially, of course, the nursing young. He will never have the opportunity to feed again and will most likely be a snack for a hyena pack within hours. Luckily for him, he doesn’t know it.

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.

Sable in Moonlight

The sable is to me as it was to Ernest Hemingway (but for different purposes) an almost mythic animal. I have only seen it once. Sable males weigh about 500 lbs and with their huge, scimitar shaped horns they can even fend off a lion attack.

This male is on the alert during this moonlit night. It is the time of danger for his harem of females and young

Rhino at Ngorongoro

“The great plains of East Africa are a microcosm of the way the world was before man came. The Masai and other warlike, cattle herding tribes kept farmers out of this wildlife paradise for thousands of years. The colonial powers discovered this Garden of Eden in the 19th century and protected it in the form of parks and games reserves.

“Ngorongoro Crater is a microcosm within the microcosm of the great African plains. The high crater rim of this extinct volcano is cold and wet and densely forested, providing a barrier to most interchange of wildlife. The species that live there have been there since prehistoric times in a kind of fishbowl environment that is perfectly balanced. There are the lions and the cheetahs and hyenas that prey on the antelope and zebra. Within a few square miles, you can see most of the wildlife that can be seen in all of East Africa.

“I have shown this rhinoceros moving up the slope with a view of the crater in the background. If you look closely, you can see dozens of wildebeests on the crater floor.”

Demidov’s Galago

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.”

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.”

Homage to Ahmed

Ahmed was the last of the great large tuskers. He lived in Kenya and was protected as a symbol of Kenyan wildlife by special presidential decree. Ahmed was guarded by two armed rangers 24 hours a day, from 1970 until he died in 1974. Ahmed was not gigantic, but it wasn't necessarily the largest or the oldest of the male elephants that had the largest tusks -- the great tuskers simply had it in their genes.

Ahmed is walking -- nearly striding -- looking mature and handsome, with his curved tusks gleaming. My intention was not to be threatening; Ahmed is not charging. His tusks are down, and they are very, very big. As an artist, I found the most interesting aspect of the image to be the treatment of the wrinkles at the centre of his face, between his eyes and below his forehead between his tusks.

"Homage to Ahmed" was created to raise funds to help combat ivory poaching. This is more a picture about ivory than it is about an elephant. It is part of the sad commentary on man's interference with the world that these great large tuskers were selectively hunted for centuries, both by collectors and trophy shooters. As the largest tusks were preferred, such hunting hastened the elimination of large tusk genes from the breeding pool. This was the end of an historic phenomenon that has occurred since elephants have been around -- millions of years. No more great tuskers will be produced on Earth.

I wanted this picture to be large and impressive and confrontational because it is about that kind of issue -- the ivory trade. In 1980, there were 70,000 elephants in Kenya. Now there are fewer than 16,000.

The demand for ivory on the international market had a resurgence in 1970, when the price of ivory increased. By the late 1970's, thousands of elephants have been slaughtered for trinkets - jewellery, piano keys, billiard balls - decorative items that sit on the shelf or the mantel and collect dust. It doesn't seem to me to be a cause worthy of the destruction of such a beautiful animal. We have to hope that people will simply stop buying ivory, especially in Far East countries where the ivory trade is the heaviest.

Passing Fancy – Lion Cubs and Rhino

One of the great things about lions is their collegiality. The family groups have a wonderful sense of companionship. This is perhaps best exemplified among the adolescents. They are similar in many ways to another gregarious mammal, Homo Sapiens.

Teenagers enjoy hanging around together. Sometimes they play fight, sometimes they just lounge and other times they join in some challenge to test their metal. Young lions might tackle a warthog, or try to access a tortoise for example. In this case they have heard a sound and viewed a shape moving behind the bushes, just a dash away. When they see that the shape is a black rhino they realize that any hope of a successful attack, even by three, brave, young lions is only a passing fancy.

Wildebeest at Sunset

Elephant Herd & Log

Lion and Lioness

At the Nest – Secretary Birds

“With their plumes, their long black tail feathers and their red facial skin, secretary birds are spectacular adornments of the African plains.”

A Resting Place – Cape Buffalo

The Cape buffalo is a powerful and dangerous African mammal, often mistakenly called the water buffalo. The water buffalo is a slovenly, domestic animal which plows the rice paddies of Asia. The African Cape buffalo is more like a tough, Spanish fighting bull

Growth – Nairobi

Growth is good. Growth is bad. During the 20th century we seem to have been obsessed with growth and bigger is better as virtues. But unbridled growth of almost anything can be disastrous. This especially applies to human population. It is hard on the present generation but also on future generations and especially on nature.

This view from the air of a Nairobi slum brought it home to me. Without a change in philosophy the future of human settlement will look increasingly like this. Soaring above I have painted two white-backed vultures, perhaps one of the few creatures that will be compatible with this blighted future.