James I. Robb (born 1933) is a Canadian artist known for his paintings celebrating the life, culture and history of the

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

Early life

Robb was born in 1933 in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, and moved to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

with his family when he was six years’ old. In 1955, Robb moved to the

, and currently resides in

Whitehorse Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...

. Robb worked various jobs in the Yukon until eventually taking up painting.

Career

Robb began his artistic career working with

pastel A pastel () is an art medium in a variety of forms including a stick, a square a pebble or a pan of color; though other forms are possible; they consist of powdered pigment and a binder. The pigments used in pastels are similar to those use ...

s and

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

on raw moose hide, eventually finding his way to watercolour paintings and

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

. Robb attempts to capture the folklore of the Yukon in his paintings, and is widely known for his rustic depictions of contemporary and historic Yukon landmarks and buildings. Robb’s artistic style, known as “ exaggerated truth”, takes inspiration from Yukon’s famous lopsided and leaning structures, particularly those found in

Dawson City Dawson City, officially the City of Dawson, is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–99). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest town in Yuko ...

, which is exemplified by his 2015 painting, ''Kissing Buildings''. Robb’s work is widely featured in books, magazines and newspapers, with originals of his watercolours selling for thousands of dollars (

CAD Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...

). Robb is also the author of ''The Colourful Five Per Cent'', the first volume of which was published in 1984. Each softcover volume contains an assortment of unique photographs, sketches, paintings and essays, and tells the stories of the Yukon’s most extraordinary inhabitants.

Honours

Robb was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du jubilé d'or de la Reine Elizabeth II) or the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

in 2002, and appointed a

Member of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with ...

on October 30, 2003, in recognition of his artistic achievements.

References

External links

Jim Robb Collection

Local stories about Jim Robb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robb, Jim 1933 births Living people Anglophone Quebec people Artists from Quebec City Artists from Yukon Canadian male painters People from Whitehorse 20th-century Canadian painters 21st-century Canadian painters 20th-century Canadian male artists 21st-century Canadian male artists

Early life

Career

Honours

See also

References

External links