Robert Hagan is one of Australia's best known accomplished contemporary impressionistic artists. His presence is firmly established in Australia, England and the United States.
"Painting is tough to tie down. It's hard if not impossible to put into words something that speaks on its own", says Hagan of his oil paintings. An artist with humility, he approaches his art with spontaneity and robustness.
Although he paints varies subjects, landscapes, seascapes and figurative he insists his paintings are beyond the recognizable. He says, "Make the painting like the recognizable subject rather than execute a literal representation. It's better to paint the effect of what is there. That is impressionism, and that is how I paint".
Robert Hagan was born in 1947, educated at Newcastle University, New South Wales. He holds a degree in economics with a diploma in education. Hagan left his teaching profession in his late 20's to try his hand at painting - something in which he had absolutely no training
"Knocking about Australia for a couple of years taking on any job that came along indelibly imprinted the back of my brain with the essence of what Australia is and was.
From 1979 through to 1991 he painted these mainstream subjects while taking "sabbaticals" to the US, the UK and Thailand. In 1991 he moved to San Diego, USA to record the America's Cup, but confesses, "I was so staggered by the beauty, majesty and diversity of what I saw during my intermittent travel of the States that I forgot to go back."
Robert Hagan has been painting professionally for over 20 years; has had 12 one-man exhibitions, participated in numerous two-man and group exhibitions and as an aside, won the Australian Derby with his champion horse, Research.
In the United States, Hagan's paintings have been featured in International Fine Art Collector 1992 and 1994, he was awarded the America's Cup International Artist Medal 1995.
Robert Hagan's America Cup paintings are on display at mystic Seaport museum.