Robert Hagan, 1947 | Western painting

Robert Hagan raised in the lush, languorous sub-tropical northern New South Wales, Australia and educated at Newcastle University, he communicates in a typical offhanded Aussie manner.

Widely traveled with studios in Suffolk, England, San Diego, USA, Southport, Australia and Pattaya, Thailand.

Robert goes about his art with confidence, humility and pragmatism. He explains, "When you look at things you tend to concentrate on one element, a boy or girl at the waters edge, for example. It's hard to bring into meaniful vision the entire scene at the one occasion. It's all there, but its not defined and it's that which is peripheral to the starting point". The key to impressionism is keying in the peripheral to the starting point".

Although Hagan paints varied subjects, landscapes, seascapes, western, portraits and figurative he insists that his paintings here and there go beyond obvious recognizable subject. This is especially the case now in 2002.

He says "make a painting like the recognizable subject rather than executing a literal representation. It's better to paint the effect of what is there...what is left in the back of the head! That's impressionism, and that I hope is where I am".