Robert McPartland was born in Redcar, (then in North Yorkshire), surrounded by the drama of heavy industry, the North Sea and the North Yorkshire Moors. He studied (abstract) painting at Ravensbourne College of Art and Design and Goldsmiths College and after 23 years in London, moved to Cardiff, Wales, where he now lives and works.

Through observation, reflection and composition, McPartland seeks to synthesise his emotional responses to the larger world through small table top associations of insignificant forms. His scaled-up oil paintings express a sense of space, clarity and mystery, balance and tension. He has exhibited widely in London, Cardiff and abroad and has work in various private and corporate collections, including the Earl of Gowrie, Unilever, Walt Disney, Fairmont and Rosewood Hotels.