View source for Robin Hill (Australian artist)

{{Short description|Australian artist and writer}}
{{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
'''Robin Hill''' (born 1932) is an Australian [[artist]] and writer, living in the [[United States]] and specialising in [[natural history]] subjects, especially [[bird]]s.
Hill was born in [[Brisbane]], the capital of the Australian state of [[Queensland]].  He was trained at the [[Wimbledon College of Art|Wimbledon School of Art]] and, after moving back to Australia in 1949, at the [[National Gallery of Victoria Art School]] and the [[RMIT University|Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology]]. In the early to mid 1960s he worked for the [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] as the host on ''Bush Quest with Robin Hill''. Helping to pioneer this television documentary on Australian wildlife with the producer Ken Taylor, Hill used his serious knowledge and love of birds to observe the local bird and wild life across various bush and wetlands of Victoria. ''Bush Quest with Robin Hill'' featured Hill describing the Victorian birdlife in an often improvised and poetic style as well as painting particular birds in watercolours that he had observed during the making of each episode. The [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] produced a total of six thirty-minute episodes all in black and white. During this period of the 1960s as well as producing and exhibiting his paintings Hill was commissioned by a popular biscuit company to produce paintings for biscuit tins. These tins featured Hill's paintings of birds and circulated commercially within Australia at the time. Hill moved to the United States in 1971, where he established studios in [[Virginia]] and [[Washington D.C.]]  Since then he has had several exhibitions, including a solo show at the [[Corcoran Gallery of Art]] and an exhibition cosponsored by the [[World Wide Fund for Nature|World Wildlife Fund]] and the Australian Embassy. He has also undertaken numerous commissions. During the 1970s and 1980s, for example, Hill was commissioned to paint complete sets of American birds—The Endangered Species; The Ducks, Geese, and Swans; The Upland Game Birds; The Birds of Prey; and The Marsh Birds.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist |url=https://www.robinhillartist.com/ |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist |language=en}}</ref>
== Early life and family  ==
Robin Hill was born in 1932, in the city of [[Brisbane]] in [[Queensland]], [[Australia]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vol. 29 No. 9 (1 September 1963) |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571 |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=Trove |language=en}}</ref>  A year after his birth he moved to [[England]] with his family, in which he lived until he was sixteen.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vol. 29 No. 9 (1 September 1963) |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571 |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=Trove |language=en}}</ref> During his childhood in England he developed his passion for observing [[Wildlife]] and the natural environment which later fueled his art.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist |url=https://www.robinhillartist.com/ |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist |language=en}}</ref> Whilst living in England, at the age of eleven he began taking classes at the [[Wimbledon College of Arts]] in [[London]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=It's only natural – Middleburg Life |url=https://www.middleburglife.com/20161030its-only-natural/ |access-date=2022-12-08 |language=en}}</ref> At the age of sixteen Hill moved back to Australia with his family in 1949, in which he was transferred to National Gallery Art School where he was enrolled in for two years.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vol. 29 No. 9 (1 September 1963) |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571 |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=Trove |language=en}}</ref> After the two years of classes at the [[Victorian College of the Arts|National Gallery Art school]], Hill transferred to the [[Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology]] (known at the time as the Melbourne Technical College) where he took classes until he began his hiatus from education. Hill was also a pioneer in the area of Turkey rearing.<ref>{{Cite web |title=It's only natural – Middleburg Life |url=https://www.middleburglife.com/20161030its-only-natural |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=www.middleburglife.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (previously known as Working Men's College 1887-1934; Melbourne Technical College 1934-1954; Royal Melbourne Technical College 1954-1960; Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology 1960-ct) |url=https://researchdata.edu.au/royal-melbourne-institute-1960-ct/491243 |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=Research Data Australia |language=en}}</ref> For three years Hill lived on native Australian [[bushland]] around the [[Murrumbidgee river]] area, pausing his education to immerse himself in the Australian environment.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Vol. 29 No. 9 (1 September 1963) |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571 |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=Trove |language=en}}</ref> After the three years of living in the bush, Hill returned to the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology for another two years until he graduated.<ref>{{Cite web |title=It's only natural – Middleburg Life |url=https://www.middleburglife.com/20161030its-only-natural/ |access-date=2022-12-08 |language=en}}</ref> In this same year Hill began his permanent residence in America, setting up art studios in the states of Virginia and Washington D.C.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist |url=https://www.robinhillartist.com/ |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist |language=en}}</ref>
Robin Hill was married to Australian Actress [[Betty Bobbitt]] in 1963, with whom he had a son Christopher Hill.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-12-02 |title=Betty Bobbitt obituary {{!}} Anthony Hayward |url=http://www.theguardian.com/global/2020/dec/02/betty-bobbitt-obituary |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref> In 1966 Hill and Bobbitt were divorced.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-12-02 |title=Betty Bobbitt obituary {{!}} Anthony Hayward |url=http://www.theguardian.com/global/2020/dec/02/betty-bobbitt-obituary |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref> Hill went on to marry Marcia née McGee, whom he met whilst exhibiting his paintings in [[Middleburg, Virginia|Middleburg]] at the Sporting Gallery in 1971.<ref>{{Cite web |title=It's only natural – Middleburg Life |url=https://www.middleburglife.com/20161030its-only-natural/ |access-date=2022-12-08 |language=en}}</ref>
== Education ==
Robin Hill attended the [[Wimbledon College of Arts|Wimbledon School of Art]] at age eleven during the 1940s, this being the first art education he undertook.<ref>Fenton, Peter. "The Art of Robin Hill." Walkabout 33, no.9, 1 September 1967. 27-33. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> Hill went on to study at the National Gallery Art school in Melbourne in 1949 taking painting classes, during which he won a student prize for a landscape artwork of demolished buildings in the suburb of [[Carlton, Victoria]].<ref>Pizzey, Graham. "Robin Hill: Bird Painter." Walkabout 29, no.9, 1 September 1963. 28-31. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> After two years at the National Gallery Art school Hill was then enrolled at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in [[Harold Freedman]]'s ‘The Art of the Book’ four year book design course studying [[typography]] and [[illustration]].<ref>Fenton, Peter. "The Art of Robin Hill." Walkabout 33, no.9, 1 September 1967. 27-33. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> During the final year of his education at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Hill was awarded with an illustration prize as well as a scholarship that funded his tuition.<ref>Pizzey, Graham. "Robin Hill: Bird Painter." Walkabout 29, no.9, 1 September 1963. 28-31. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> He graduated from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology with a diploma in book designing.<ref>Fenton, Peter. "The Art of Robin Hill." Walkabout 33, no.9, 1 September 1967. 27-33. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref>
== Career ==
During the pause Hill took from his education at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, he lived in the Australian bush and took on temporary seasonal occupation to support this lifestyle.<ref>Hill, Robin. "Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist Biography." Robin Hill, 2019. https://www.robinhillartist.com</ref> Hill developed a wide range of occupations and skills including [[sheep shearing]], [[blacksmithing]], cattle [[herding]], [[boundary riding]], [[fruit picking]] and rail road track working.<ref>Hill, Robin. "Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist Biography." Robin Hill, 2019. https://www.robinhillartist.com</ref><ref>Fenton, Peter. "The Art of Robin Hill." Walkabout 33, no.9, 1 September 1967. 27-33. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> After graduating Hill took on various jobs that utilised the illustration skills he developed at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, he worked for a packaging company designing packaging for three months, this being his first artistic employment.<ref>Pizzey, Graham. "Robin Hill: Bird Painter." Walkabout 29, no.9, 1 September 1963. 28-31. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> He then went on to work for an advertising agency, followed by working as a magazine illustrator for two years.<ref>Pizzey, Graham. "Robin Hill: Bird Painter." Walkabout 29, no.9, 1 September 1963. 28-31. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> He then taught art classes two years in clay sculpting, illustration and painting, among other artistic techniques.<ref>Pizzey, Graham. "Robin Hill: Bird Painter." Walkabout 29, no.9, 1 September 1963. 28-31. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> Hill's first profitable exhibition was held at the Australian Galleries in 1958 in which he exhibited lithographs of birds of prey, his works sold out and he received around 500 pounds.<ref>Pizzey, Graham. "Robin Hill: Bird Painter." Walkabout 29, no.9, 1 September 1963. 28-31. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> After this he went on to continue [[teaching]] whilst doing [[commission (art)|commission]]s.
=== Television series ===
=== Paintings ===
Hill's subject-matter and capability is broad; he has painted not only birds, but also animals such as dogs and farm animals<ref>Hill, Robin. "Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist Biography." Robin Hill, 2019. https://www.robinhillartist.com</ref> and human portraits,<ref>Hill, Robin. "Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist Biography." Robin Hill, 2019. https://www.robinhillartist.com</ref>  still life, landscapes, industrial sites and pre-Columbian ruins,<ref>Hill, Robin. "Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist Biography." Robin Hill, 2019. https://www.robinhillartist.com</ref> in as [[Watercolor painting|watercolour]], [[gouache]] and [[Oil paint|oils]].<ref>Hill, Robin. "Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist Biography." Robin Hill, 2019. https://www.robinhillartist.com</ref>
==== Inspiration ====
During Robin Hill's childhood he began birdwatching and observation of wildlife which inspired his later art.<ref>Fenton, Peter. "The Art of Robin Hill." Walkabout 33, no.9, 1 September 1967. 27-33. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> Hill also attributes the development of his artistic style to the drawings made while living in [[the bush]] and observing native birds in the Australian environment first-hand.<ref>Fenton, Peter. "The Art of Robin Hill." Walkabout 33, no.9, 1 September 1967. 27-33. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> The book designing course he took at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology further developed his [[natural history]] drawing style.<ref>Fenton, Peter. "The Art of Robin Hill." Walkabout 33, no.9, 1 September 1967. 27-33. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> His connection with the course's coordinator [[Harold Freedman]] led him to create a collection of Australian bird [[Lithography|lithographs]], with Freedman encouraging his artistic ability.<ref>Pizzey, Graham. "Robin Hill: Bird Painter." Walkabout 29, no.9, 1 September 1963. 28-31. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> His lithographs of birds of prey were exhibited by the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology's print and lithography group exhibition.<ref>Pizzey, Graham. "Robin Hill: Bird Painter." Walkabout 29, no.9, 1 September 1963. 28-31. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> This was a catalyst for Hill's first commercial exhibition in the Australian Galleries in 1958, in which he exhibited around thirty paintings of birds of prey inspired by his lithographs.<ref>Pizzey, Graham. "Robin Hill: Bird Painter." Walkabout 29, no.9, 1 September 1963. 28-31. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> It took him eighteen months to prepare all the paintings he presented at this exhibition.<ref>Pizzey, Graham. "Robin Hill: Bird Painter." Walkabout 29, no.9, 1 September 1963. 28-31. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> A second exhibition in 1960 at the Australian Galleries built on its success.<ref>Pizzey, Graham. "Robin Hill: Bird Painter." Walkabout 29, no.9, 1 September 1963. 28-31. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> Hill has traveled extensively during the course of his artistic career, drawing inspiration from many species of birds from countries including Africa, Australia, Britain and America.<ref>Hill, Robin. "Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist Biography." Robin Hill, 2019. https://www.robinhillartist.com</ref> An inspiration is other artists; Botticelli, Durer, Reubens and Michelangelo<ref>Hill, Robin. "Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist Biography." Robin Hill, 2019. https://www.robinhillartist.com</ref> and there is also an eastern influence on Hill's works from Japanese screen prints and Chinese scroll paintings of animals.<ref>Hill, Robin. "Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist Biography." Robin Hill, 2019. https://www.robinhillartist.com</ref>
==== Technique ====
The construction of Hill's watercolour artworks either develops from museum skin references or birdwatching sketches done in the natural environment.<ref>Pizzey, Graham. "Robin Hill: Bird Painter." Walkabout 29, no.9, 1 September 1963. 28-31. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> Hill's utilisation of museum skins as references for his works has brought both negative and positive criticism.<ref>Pizzey, Graham. "Robin Hill: Bird Painter." Walkabout 29, no.9, 1 September 1963. 28-31. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref><ref>Reviews, "Bird Study", 15, no.2, 1968. https://doi.org/10.1080/00063656809476189</ref> Hill's works are often painted on watercolour canvases; these canvases are prepared with a wetted sponge to allow the watercolour background wash to be applied.<ref>Pizzey, Graham. "Robin Hill: Bird Painter." Walkabout 29, no.9, 1 September 1963. 28-31. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref>
==== Exhibitions ====
Hill has had works exhibited in many galleries, these include; the Australian Galleries in Melbourne, the Tyron Galleries in London, the [[Morris Museum of Art]] in Georgia and the [[Corcoran Gallery of Art]] in Washington D.C.<ref>Hill, Robin. "Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist Biography." Robin Hill, 2019. https://www.robinhillartist.com</ref> Hill has had several exhibitions in many cities, such as; Melbourne, Sydney, Johannesburg, London, New York, Middleburg, Virginia, Georgia and Washington D. C.<ref>Hill, Robin. "Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist Biography." Robin Hill, 2019. https://www.robinhillartist.com</ref> During the 1980s Hill had developed a set of paintings of upland game birds that were exhibited throughout various cities in America as part of a traveling exhibition held by the [[Smithsonian Institution]].<ref>Hill, Robin. "Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist Biography." Robin Hill, 2019. https://www.robinhillartist.com</ref> Hill has a permanent exhibition of more than two hundred endangered species of ducks, geese, swans, upland game birds, birds of prey and marsh birds at the Morris Museum of Art.<ref>Beasley, Tood. "Birds of the World with Robin Hill." Morris Museum of Art. Last modified 9 October 2020. https://www.morrismuseumeducation.com/post/birds-of-the-world-with-robin-hill</ref> His artistic presentation of endangered species contributes a promotion of awareness of environmental sustainability to the museum.<ref>Curtis, David, Nick Reid, and Guy Ballard. "Communicating Ecology Through Art: What Scientists Think." Ecology and Society 17, no. 2 (2012): 1-15. http://www.jstor.org/stable/26269030</ref> Hill also went on to contribute works to a traveling exhibition that supported the [[World Wide Fund for Nature|World Wildlife Fund]], this collection of works was titled the vanishing series and it included paintings of endangered and extinct bird species from North America.<ref>Hill, Robin. "Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist Biography." Robin Hill, 2019. https://www.robinhillartist.com</ref> Hill was also commissioned in the 1980s by Clyde's Restaurant Group to create eighteen watercolour bird paintings that was displayed among the restaurants all of which were on large canvases, among these paintings was a nine by five feet triptych.<ref>Hill, Robin. "Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist Biography." Robin Hill, 2019. https://www.robinhillartist.com</ref>
===Publications===
In addition to numerous articles in newspapers and magazines, Hill's publications include:
* 1960. ''Australia’s Waterfowl''. (Text by M.C. Downes and Ina Watson). Victoria: Fisheries & Wildlife.
* 1962. ''Bushland and Seashore. An Australian nature adventure''. Melbourne: Lansdowne Press.
* 1967. ''Australian Birds''. Melbourne: Thomas Nelson.
* 1968. ''Bush Quest''. Melbourne: Lansdowne Press.
* 1970. ''The Corner. A naturalist's journeys in south-eastern Australia''. Melbourne: Lansdowne Press.
* 1987. ''The Waterfowl of North America''. Augusta, GA: Morris Communications Corporation
From his experience of sailing,<ref>Hill, Robin. "Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist Biography." Robin Hill, 2019. https://www.robinhillartist.com</ref> Hill has written for the magazine ''Cruising World;''  informative columns on bird species such as the [[brown pelican]], the [[great blue heron]] and the [[snowy egret]]<ref>Brengle, George. 1983, July. Cruising World. 9, no.7.</ref><ref>Brengle, George. 1981, July. Cruising World.https://books.google.com.au/books?id=ZSIKlK3ZmNIC&pg=RA3-PA3&lpg=RA3-PA3&dq</ref><ref>Brengle, George. 1983, July. https://books.google.com/books?id=jB_G6kOxtX0C&pg=RA4-PA115</ref> illustrated with original sketches of the birds. He participated the One-Two Race event held by ''Cruising World'' in [[Bermuda]] in 1981,<ref>Brengle, George. 1981, July. Cruising World.https://books.google.com.au/books?id=ZSIKlK3ZmNIC&pg=RA3-PA3&lpg=RA3-PA3&dq</ref> but dropped out due to issues with the self-steering system of his Folkboat.<ref>Brengle, G. 1981, July. Cruising World.https://books.google.com.au/books?id=ZSIKlK3ZmNIC&pg=RA3-PA3&lpg=RA3-PA3&dq</ref>
== Critical reception ==
[[Walkabout (magazine)|''Walkabout'']] columnist P. J. Kadwell has compared Hill to the American [[Ornithology|ornithologist]] and painter Roger Peterson, praising Hill's works for their contribution to the reference catalogue of Australian bird species.<ref>Kadwell, P. "In Praise of Robin Hill." Walkabout. 29, no.12, 1 December 1963</ref> Another ''Walkabout'' columnist [[Graham Pizzey]] regarded Hill highly,<ref>Pizzey, Graham. "Robin Hill: Bird Painter." Walkabout 29, no.9, 1 September 1963. 28-31. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> and owned his painting of egrets. A third ''Walkabout'' columnist Peter Fenton appraises Hill's unique talent and precision.<ref>Fenton, Peter. "The Art of Robin Hill." Walkabout 33, no.9, 1 September 1967. 27-33. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref>
Reviews of his first exhibition of bird paintings at the Australian Galleries in 1958 were positive,.<ref>Fenton, Peter. "The Art of Robin Hill." Walkabout 33, no.9, 1 September 1967. 27-33. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> with praise from the art critics [[Arnold Shore]] in the Melbourne ''Age'' and Alan Warren in the ''Sun News-Pictorial''.<ref>Pizzey, Graham. "Robin Hill: Bird Painter." Walkabout 29, no.9, 1 September 1963. 28-31. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> The exhibition sold out<ref>Fenton, Peter. "The Art of Robin Hill." Walkabout 33, no.9, 1 September 1967. 27-33. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> earning Hill around five hundred euros.<ref>Fenton, Peter. "The Art of Robin Hill." Walkabout 33, no.9, 1 September 1967. 27-33. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> Hill's second exhibition at Australian Galleries in 1960 also received further critical commendation to Hill's profit.<ref>Fenton, Peter. "The Art of Robin Hill." Walkabout 33, no.9, 1 September 1967. 27-33. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> His published works were well received; ''Australian Birds'' sold over 30,000 copies within its first week of sales,<ref>Hill, Robin. "Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist Biography." Robin Hill, 2019. https://www.robinhillartist.com</ref> and ''Bushland and Seashore'' won a design award.<ref>Hill, Robin. "Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist Biography." Robin Hill, 2019. https://www.robinhillartist.com</ref> ''Bushland and Seashore'' was ranked in the top 25 of books representing the best of Australian publishing by a panel of book sellers in 1962.<ref>Pizzey, Graham. "Robin Hill: Bird Painter." Walkabout 29, no.9, 1 September 1963. 28-31. https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-749231571</ref> Hill's publishing success also led to the commissioning of his book ''Australian Birds'' by [[Thomas Nelson (publisher)|Thomas Nelson, Ltd]].<ref>Hill, Robin. "Robin Hill Artist & Naturalist Biography." Robin Hill, 2019. https://www.robinhillartist.com</ref>
== Legacy ==
Hill's works have inspired other artists; Brett Jarret has specifically taken inspiration from Hill's book ''Australian Birds''.<ref>Milton, Katie. "Artist Profile Brett Jarret." https://artedit.com.au/artist-profile-brett-jarrett/</ref>
==External links==
* [http://www.robinhillartist.com/index.html Robin Hill - Artist and Naturalist]
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hill, Robin}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Australian bird artists]]
[[Category:Australian naturalists]]