Keyword: city
North End Shipyard
Robert was living on Veith Street in the North End close to the shipyards when he first moved to Halifax. Thickly painted in black, white and gray, this cityscape dates from Robert’s art school days, at the same time he
City Rooftops with Distant Hospital
A view from Robert’s Morris Street apartment, looking over city rooftops toward the distant Victoria General Hospital. The image is reminiscent of Robert’s earlier Halifax Citadel over Rooftops, 1982, a bird’s-eye view of a city with a symbolic landmark in
Halifax harbour with speedboat, hospital and refinery
Robert’s studio was a five minute walk to the waterfront and this is a view he would have seen regularly. The speed boat, with its crowded party of sightseers, may represent a modern-day ship of fools. The boat speeds between two
Smoke Stacks
Robert’s photographs on the theme of fences focussed on Halifax’s North End. Here he looks across the harbour to Dartmouth, though most of the view is blocked. The chain link fence signals this is private property housing sensitive or dangerous material. What at first glance looks
Row Houses with distant bridge
This photo of Uniacke Square, a public housing site, looks toward Halifax harbour and the distant A Murray MacKay Bridge, whose construction brought about the controversial appropriation of land known as Africville. Africville was a thriving community of black Nova Scotians located
The Conversation
Robert’s self-portrait with fellow artist and best friend Sean McQuay is set in a city and shows the recently graduated art students debating whether to stay in Nova Scotia or to pursue adventures and careers elsewhere. A diagonal road stretches between
Fence, Trees, Puddles
Robert took a series of photos while attending art school on the theme of “fences,” using a square format 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 ” camera. The images are detailed, composed with great care and precision. In the sample above, fence and trees provide
City collage with grid background
From the moment Robert moved to Halifax he tried to capture the feeling of a city in an artwork. This work combines collage, line drawing and text. The cross-hatched lines, such an important feature of Robert’s realist work, is used here
Halifax Citadel over Rooftops
Robert’s Argyle Street studio looked out over Citadel Hill in downtown Halifax. The building in the immediate foreground with the long rows of windows, which has now been torn down, belonged to the Chronicle Herald. Halifax Citadel over Rooftops and
Core
The lovers emerge like a tree out of the spent core of the apple. The Christian symbolism seems unavoidable: the apple has been tasted and paradise is lost for these lovers who find themselves adrift in an urban wasteland. The