Robert Pope Archive

Robert’s final series, created after the exhausting work of the “Illness and Healing” exhibition, were small studies of flowers and leaves. Many of these flowers look quite human, like standing figures, and exist in a space that suggests a natural

Without the title, Addiction, the meaning of this image might be unclear. Lovers seen through, imprisoned in a screen of poppies, the figures are obsessed with their feelings.

Robert’s last paintings were small studies of flowers. While the rose is simplified, the dramatic lighting gives it a monumental presence as it emerges from the dark background. Flowers are fragile but beautiful symbols of love that awaken the senses. They are often

In The First Day, Robert had shown a female patient in a cast and crutches looking at a gift of flowers. The painting is set outdoors and has a bright and optimistic feeling to it. Cancer shows a male patient

Robert’s “Seal Upon Thine Heart” series is conceived like a Goldberg Variations, but instead of inventing a number of increasingly delightful changes upon a repeating melody, as Bach does, Robert invents changes on a repeating set of visual elements. The

A patient is given flowers to brighten a room and to cheer spirits during the slow period of recovery. The setting for this image is the back deck of Robert’s parents’ home in Mount Denson, Nova Scotia. Robert’s mother Isabel

Robert’s last sketchbook from 1991 features small nature studies. The flowers are from his mother Isabel’s garden. Robert was too ill to attempt more complex subjects, yet these flower and leaf images parallel the vulnerability of Robert’s own condition at