Robert Battin (1933 - 2021)

Robert Maurice Battin was born on December 6, 1933, to Maurice and Ella Battin, and he was raised in Edina, Minnesota, with his two sisters.   

 

After high school, Bob traveled to Britain and Northern Europe, where his love of motorcycles, bicycles, and antique cars began. Subsequently, his tour of duty in the US Army took him to Germany as an Artillery Land Surveyor. Upon discharge, he returned to Minnesota where he graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in philosophy, anthropology and art, while working as an independent printmaker with Malcolm Myers.

 

Shortly thereafter, he returned to Germany to continue to hone his skills in printmaking, as well as sculpture and jewelry making, through a residence at the Cologne City School of Arts and Crafts. In 1968, Bob entered the MFA program at the University of Minnesota while teaching printmaking at Macalester College.

 

He continued to teach printmaking, drawing, sculpture, and lithography during the '70s and ultimately received his MFA while exhibiting his work throughout the Midwest and Germany.

 

Battin died on November 15, 2021, in Minneapolis, Minnesota