Above and below are photos of one of Victoria's iconic buildings, now called the Robert Bateman Centre. It is, of course, the same building that you see on the top of every page of this blog. It was designed by Francis Rattenbury, who also designed the nearby Legislative Assembly Buildings and the Empress Hotel, as well as other important Victoria Buildings. The building was erected to serve as a steamship terminal for Canadian Pacific Steamships. Later it housed Madame Tussaud's Royal London Wax Museum. Now it has become the home of a gallery of Robert Bateman prints and paintings. Robert Bateman is a world famous artist who specializes in paintings of the natural world. Here is a link to
his website and another link to the
Robert Bateman Centre itself. I encourage you to click through and take a look at some of his remarkable work. Robert Bateman was born in Toronto but now lives on Saltspring Island, near Victoria.
For those of you who might be experiencing deja vu, yes, both these photos are from the archives. The top one was taken in 2009 when the building was still Madame Tussaud's. The bottom one shows the building in 2012 when the Undersea Gardens (the white floating structure) was still nearby. HERE's a link to a photo taken in March of this year that is more contemporary....
3 comments:
Well I'm glad the building is being used for something good. I never ventured in when it was Madam Tussaud's b/c i went to the ones in Niagara Falls and London England when I was a kid. I love how the lamp posts stand out in that bottom pic.
It is a beautiful building- I knew there was a centre in his name out there, but don't think I remembered where.
I like his work, even if he drives the art critics crazy. Maybe the art critics need to wake up and smell the coffee.
It is a gorgeous building. Not sure if I was around viewing your blog then so it feels like my first time viewing the wonderful inmages.
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