Robert Todonai
1963–
Robert Todonai was born April 11, 1963 in Port Augusta, South Australia. He was recognized at a young age for his artistic talents, and encouraged to pursue drawing and painting by his parents.
Once his schooling was completed, he set out to become an artist. He joined the artists of the Science-Art Research Center at Berri while studying applied mathematics. He was recognized for his mastery of narrative impressionism, but also with portraits and science-art abstracts. Influences from the work of the Australian Heidelberg School also played a role in defining his style.
READ MORE +Todonai is considered a narrative Impressionist, meaning his art tells a story about a moment. In his words, the captured moment is “as fleeting and transitory as a ray of light coming through the clouds in the distance.” It is there for a moment, and then it is gone, but for that moment, your breath is taken away by its beauty. It is this ephemeral feeling that inspires Todonai’s paintings.
He enjoys creating figurative works and landscapes, the latter based on places he has visited, seen in photos, or from his imagination. He has also painted en plein air across Australia, with the country’s beauty inspiring him.
Todonai says he likes to paint quickly, telling people that the less time he spends on a painting, the better it is. If it’s too labored, it lacks the effect of immediacy he loves to capture.
He has been involved in numerous Science-Art Centre publications regarding the pioneering of a new Renaissance in Australia, in which art and science are reunited in the discovery of a universal science of creativity and life. These books include “Two Bob’s Worth,” launched in 1989 in Los Angeles by the Hollywood Thalian Society, and “The Science-Art of the 21st Century Renaissance,” published in 2014. In June 2015, Todonai completed a Bachelor of Technology Degree (Computer Studies), RMIT University, Melbourne.
Todonai’s studio and residence, known as The Castle on the Hill, is located in Northern New South Wales. It was hand-built by himself and fellow artist Robert Pope, and has been the subject of many television and magazine articles. The building also serves as the headquarters for the Science-Art Research Centre of Australia, a research institute approved by the Australian government.
In August 2015, along with artist Robert Pope, Todonai opened the Australian Stereoscopic Gallery at the Science-Art Research Centre’s Castle. The Science Department of Pavia University in Italy has noted that the gallery supersedes Salvador Dali’s Stereoscopic Art, and that the gallery is an important part of the 21st century Renaissance.
Recently, he was commissioned by the Bradford Exchange to paint artworks celebrating topics such as Australia’s Heroes of Gallipoli, The Man from Snowy River and the Battle for Australia for commemorative collectible plates. These are distributed throughout Australia and New Zealand. The Bradford Exchange inducted him into their Hall of Fame in recognition of his contribution to their development of Australian art.
As well as Australia, he has exhibited at the Pacific Design Centre in Hollywood and the Dyansen Galleries on Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, by invitation of the Thalian Society of Hollywood. As a result of these exhibitions, the Thalians awarded him a Decree of Artistic Excellence and a Star in their Walk of Fame. In 2010 he was designated an artist-representative of the Florentine New Renaissance Project in Italy.
Todonai’s work is represented in many private and institutional collections throughout the world. He is listed in the Art Reference volumes, A Buyer’s Guide to Australian Art and Artists and Galleries of Australia.
