Robert Beer biography and life

Robert Beer

British artist and author Robert Beer is recognized for his significant contribution to the world of Tibetan Art, considering that his studies in the domain and his collaboration with some of the best Newar artists and thangka painters have practically boosted the field's reputation. His work in the area is not necessarily focused on generating art, as he is also interested in promoting this art form and in having people acknowledge its cultural and artistic importance. Beer's work is somewhat surprising, especially given that he is a westerner and has little to no cultural connection to the art that he is addressing. He dedicated more than forty years of his life to preserving and supporting Tibetan art, but he did not ignore other forms of art that he discovered on the Asian continent. In order to be constantly in touch with the art that he was writing about, Beer traveled on a yearly basis to countries where it was present. He concentrates on having the West understand this form of art and of encouraging Newar artists in pursuing their dreams.

Robert Beer was born in Cardiff, South Wales, in 1947, and was uncertain regarding the spiritual side of his personality until he reached the age of fourteen. It was then that he had a profound spiritual experience that influenced his later life. He experienced the sixties from a first person perspective, as he was heavily influenced by revolutionary attitudes in following his dream of being a painter regardless of the fact that he was colorblind. Eastern culture started to seem appealing to him during the late sixties and this feeling was fueled by the psychedelic experiences that he went through during the period. He lived in India and Nepal from 1970 to 1976 and gathered a lot of information regarding Buddhist artwork. In spite of his dedication, he had little success in making a living in the UK by selling paintings representing Buddhist deities, this most probably being owed to the fact that Westerners were then unable to understand the significance of this art form. He spent approximately two decades continuing his work in the domain, even with the fact that he did not earn a lot out of the enterprise. He published several illustrated books, such as the "Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs" and the "Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols." These two have had a heavy influence on Newar art and on Buddhist art as a whole, as he observed that even though his practice was relatively ignored in the UK, people in India and Nepal were particularly fond of his art. He collaborated greatly with artists in Asia from there on and the fact that he spent most of his time in the UK did not stop him from keeping Buddhist art forms alive in the West.