Robert Todonai

Search terms: painting, oil, acrylic, landscape, historic, cityscape, figurative, nature & wildlife

About the Artist

Robert Todonai was born on April 11th, 1963, at Port Augusta, South Australia. He began his art training at the Science-Art Research Centre at Berri, in South Australia's Riverland, in 1981, where he studied oil painting under Robert Pope. At the same time he embarked on a degree in Applied Mathematics, taken externally through the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. After two years of work, Todonai began to achieve some financial success with his art, and withdrew from mathematics to concentrate fully upon a career as a painter.

In 1990, after successful exhibitions in Hollywood and Beverly Hills, USA, Todonai moved to the beautiful Tweed Valley of Northern New South Wales, where, jointly with colleagues, Robert Pope and Irene Brown, he built an enormous stone mansion, now known as the Castle on the Hill. The Castle now functions as an award winning bed and breakfast, and has been the subject of numerous television, newspaper and magazine features. He works from his studio in the Castle.

Robert Todonai is a versatile artist. He works predominantly in oils and acrylics on stretched canvas, Belgian linen and primed hardboard. His favourite subjects include landscapes, figurative and historical themes. Although he is best known as a painter of the Australian landscape, he regularly accepts commissions covering a variety of subjects, from classic racing cars to portraits. He has appropriately been described as a 'narrative impressionist' as his romantic images evoke moods and atmosphere as well as telling a story. Each of Robert Todonai's paintings is a celebration of light, life and colour.

Career Achievements

1988 - Artist to the Town of Loxton, South Australia
Awarded title, Earl of Lock, by Prince Leonard of the Hutt River Province, Western Australia
Listed in 'Artists and Galleries of Australia' by Max Germaine
Listed in 'A Buyer's Guide to Australian Art' by Graham Ryles
‘Decree of Artistic Excellence’ awarded by the Hollywood Thalian Society
Treasurer of the Science-Art Research Centre of Australia Inc, Uki, New South Wales
1996 - Listed in Marquis 'Who’s Who in the World'
Listed in '2000 Outstanding Artists and Designers of the 20th Century', International Biographical Centre Publication, Cambridge, United Kingdom
Paintings used as prizes on the television game shows, 'Sale of the Century' and 'Wheel of Fortune'.
Official Artist to the Festival of Speed on Tweed, Murwillumbah, South Australia
Work reproduced on collector's plates produced by The Bradford Exchange

Selected Exhibitions

2001 - Artist in Residence, 'Siteworks' residency and exhibition, Tweed River Regional Art Gallery
1999 - Grosvenor Place Foyer, Central Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
1998 - Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery
1997 - Arica Gallery, Dalkeith, Western Australia
1996 - Feature Artist, Australian Outback Exhibition, Western Galleries, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia
1996 - Queensland Art Brokering Service's touring exhibitions; Australian Art Masters Past, Present and Future, Queensland, Australia
1995-1996 - Griffith Fine Art Gallery, Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia
1995 - Feature Artist at the Waltzing Matilda Centenary Exhibition, Winton, Queensland, Australia
1987, 1991, 1993 - Studio Star Gallery, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
1992 - Tweed River Regional Art Gallery, 'Professional Artists of the Tweed'
1989 - DeVorzon Gallery, Pacific Design Centre, Hollywood, USA
1989 - Dyansen Galleries, Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, USA
1988-1993 - Elder Fine Art Galleries, Adelaide, South Australia
1984 - State Education Centre, Adelaide, South Australia