E. Robert Ross
E. Robert Ross - Biography
E. Robert Ross is first and foremost a nature lover, channeling his lifelong devotion to hiking, canoeing and camping into realist paintings of the Canadian landscape. His inspiration is direct, his aim is to transport the viewer into the scene he has captured. Throughout his four decades long career, Ross has dedicated himself to depicting the “underlying spirit of nature that ties the landscape together with our human existence”.
Ross has aimed to make accessible what he sees and feels during his extensive travelling through the Ontario wilderness, and painting has proved to be an ideal medium for this expression. Originally inspired by landscape photographers such as Ansel Adams and the Sierra Club Photographers, his work has remained hyper-realistic, rather than impressionistic or abstract such as seen in the Group of Seven. Starting to paint shortly after his high school graduation, Ross dedicated himself as a full time painter in 1975. His success quickly skyrocketed, and the Art Gallery of Hamilton hosted a solo exhibition of his landscapes, The Wilderness Spirit, in 1978.
In depicting the Canadian landscape, he has naturally contributed to environmental activism. His love for the Earth has occupied both his recreational and professional lives, and led him to become a member of the On the Edge collective of artists who have gathered for the sole purpose of raising awareness of environmental issues.
In keeping with his attempts to connect humans with nature, Ross voyaged not only into the wilderness, but inwards to the heart and the mind. His introspectives works of night scenes began with his Darklight show in 1990, with many featuring the image of the moon prominently. Paul Benedetti wrote for the Hamilton Spectator about the series, “Ross has eliminated specifics until the scenes become archetypal, not pictures of places on earth, but places in the mind”.
Ross has remained a full-time, active painter since the 1970s. Although he has exhibited primarily in Southern Ontario, his enormous output has allowed him to gain his income fully from his art making. His beloved landscape works remain iconic in the Hamilton-area, as he continues to work today.
Large scale paintings in the Hamilton area may be viewed in the lobby of St. Joseph’s Hospital, Charlton Campus; the lobby of the Juravinski Cancer Centre; the office of the Dean of Medicine, McMaster University Medical Centre; the David Braley Research Centre at the Hamilton General Hospital; St. Peter’s Hospital; the headquarters of the Royal Botanical Gardens and the Hamilton Region Conservation Authority; The John Sopinka Court House; Mohawk College, and at the David Braley Medical Centre (Bay and Main St., Hamilton).
Ross has been involved with many local arts organizations. He is a past president of the Board of Directors of the Carnegie Gallery, Dundas; a founding member of the On the Edge Art Environment Project; as well as many other arts organizations and juries. He served for five years on the Board of Governors of the Dundas Valley School of Art, nine years on the Board of Directors, and currently on the Council of Governors of the Art Gallery of Hamilton.
Selected Collections:
HRH the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall
Former Governor General of Canada Adrienne Clarkson
Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario
Stelco Inc., Hamilton
The Hamilton Spectator
Peat-Marwick (KPMG), Hamilton
Young Drivers of Canada, Hamilton
St. Joseph’s Hospital, Hamilton
McMaster University Medical Centre, Hamilton
David Braley Research Institute, Hamilton General Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario
Juravinski Cancer Centre, Hamilton, Ontario
Mohawk College, Hamilton, Ontario
City of Hamilton, Ontario
City of Itabashi, Japan
Yamaha Motorcycles, Japan
Christian Orthodox Church, Greece
Barclays Bank, Toronto, Ontario
GTS Industries, Paris, France
Hamilton Law Association at the John Sopinka Court House, Hamilton, ON
Selected Exhibitions:
2006 – Wellington Gallery, Aurora, Ontario
2002 – Dennison Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
1998 – Art Gallery of Burlington, Burlington, Ontario “Landmarks”
1997 – McNaught Gallery, Hamilton, Ontario
1997 – Harbour Gallery, Mississauga, Ontario
1997 – Juravinski Cancer Centre, Hamilton, Ontario “Sanctuary Series”
1997 – Downtown Hamilton Mural (47′ x 80′), Hamilton, Ontario
1995 – Harbour Gallery, Mississauga, Ontario
1994 – McNaught Gallery, Hamilton, Ontario”
1993 – Carnegie Gallery, Dundas, Ontario “Skies”
1990 – Beckett Gallery, Hamilton, Ontario “Darklight”
Artist Specialization: Landscape hyper-realism - In his early years, Ross was committed to capturing specific areas that he had visited, carefully taking every detail of a scene onto canvas. As the years went on, Ross focused more on translating the feeling he experienced while at certain sites, painting images of open seas and skies without any location attached to them. Ross shared, “the biggest change is that I’m starting out with an idea and doing a painting based on the idea. An early interest in the work of landscape photographers led me to a realistic style of painting, in acrylics. However, the most important part of painting landscapes, for me, is the symbolism of the elements, and the association one can imagine from the depiction of the scenes. I always hope to suggest going beyond the landscapes. It is the underlying spirit of nature that ties the landscape together with our human existence." - E. Robert Ross
