1881-1956

Albert Henry Robinson was a native Hamiltonian who studied with John S. Gordon during the evenings and worked for the Hamilton Times as a chalk plate artist during the day. In 1903, he left for Paris and continued his training at the Julian Academy with Bouguereau and Bachet, and then with Ferrier at the École des Beaux-Arts. Robinson was greatly influenced by the impressionists and remarked years later that they had ” their eyes open spiritually.” After returning to Hamilton, John S. Gordon hired him as an assistant and then as an instructor at the Hamilton Art School. In 1906 Robinson sold his first piece of work at a three-man exhibition organized by Harry Neyland , but the real turning point in his career occurred in 1908 when Robinson met a Montreal couple, visiting in Hamilton. The Davis’s recognized his talent and encouraged him to come to Montreal declaring that, “Albert won’t amount to a hill of beans here.” They introduced him to many great artists of the day including A.Y. Jackson who became a close friend, and they continued to support and sponsor him throughout his career.

The two artists went on many sketching trips together and between 1918 and 1933, they travelled along the shores of the St. Lawrence and in the Laurentians, where Robinson painted many landscapes, which constitute the bulk of his work.”Robinson’s fame rests today on his oils which record the Quebec countryside. He painted snowbound villages, floating ice in springtime rivers, and the quiet summer valleys and hillsides in the Eastern Townships”

Stuart McCuaig

Climbing the Cold White Peaks : a survey of artists in and from Hamilton 1910 -1950

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