Robert Pope Archive

A patient in street clothes, braced by two nurses, practices walking down a crowded hospital corridor. The excited witnesses include a fellow patient in a wheelchair, at an earlier stage in her own treatment. Robert created many versions of New Steps, starting

In this charcoal study of an half-dead apple tree that is surprisingly resilient with new growth, Robert looks to the west of his family’s property in Mount Denson so that the factory in Hantsport is visible in the distance (on

Landscape plus factory, looking west from the bedroom window of Robert’s parents home in Mt. Denson. The charcoal version shows a summertime landscape with the trees rounded with leaves contrasting with the stumps and overgrown grasses in the foreground. The

Robert was part of a circle of young people for whom making and sharing music was an important element of their friendship. The three women are framed between the moon in the background and a tape recorder in the foreground.

Margaret Pope, Robert’s aunt known as Meggie, lived next door to Robert’s parents in Mount Denson. She was Robert’s most ardent and supportive patron. Here she is seen in the distance walking her dog silhouetted against the river, while one of

Robert contrasts light from the x-ray wall with the shadow on the doctors, as well as the spectral interior of bodies with the solid masses of the two men. The x-ray gives a privileged view inside the body of the patient, but these doctors

This is a rare instance of Robert working with pencil in a study for a painting. The drawing features two  children, while the painting has three. The drawing also shows a deck of cards scattering through the air, partly obscuring the

This study appeared in a sketchbook of Halifax scenes, all done in charcoal and drawn on location around the city. Robert had taken a year off before going to art school and was creating scenic views to sell as low priced prints. He

After graduating from Acadia University, Rob moved to Halifax in the summer of 1977. The sketches in this book, most made at Point Pleasant Park, double as scenic views of Halifax and as studies of light and shade, often with