James I. “Jim” Robb (b. 1933)
Jim Robb was born in Montreal and moved to the Yukon in 1955. He worked in the summer with Northwest Power, Canadian National Telecommunications, and Yukon Electric and painted during the winter. He became a fulltime artist in 1960.1)
Robb’s early artwork was pastel and charcoal drawings on Moosehide. One of his first sales was in 1957; three 8’ x 4’ murals for the bar at the Taku Hotel in Whitehorse.2) He was inspired to paint people when he saw Wigwam Harry dancing beside the jukebox in the Grill Café in the White Pass Hotel. His larger than life painting was hung in the Rainbow Room of the Whitehorse Inn.3)
In 1961, he started to focus on photography, and pen, ink and watercolour drawings. He is very interested in historic buildings and Yukon’s colourful five percent, a term he coined for those interesting and unique people who set themselves apart through their work and philosophy.4)
A retrospective of Jim Robb’s work ran at the Yukon Arts Centre from May to August 2014.5) A film, Jim Robb’s Yukon, was made as he moved through the exhibition looking at more than a hundred of his works of art. He reflected on his style, which he called the exaggerated truth.6) J im Robb was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2004 for his work in capturing the territory’s history through his sketches, watercolours, and photography. He has been widely featured in books, magazines, and newspapers, has supported the local cultural and artistic community, and has donated many works of art to charities and organizations over the years.7)