Brief Bio

Originally from Ontario, Robert Rutherford studied under David Blackwood from 1968 to 1972. He also studied at the Banff School of Fine Arts in 1971 and l'École des Beaux Arts in France from 1972-73. In 1973 he received a scholarship to study at the Ontario College of Fine Art with Frederick Hagen.

Robert Rutherford has had solo and group exhibitions both locally and across Canada, and is represented in numerous public and private collections. He has received several commissions for large murals, stage settings and record covers.

The artist states: "Several times each year, I pack my seventeen year old classic motorcycle with camping gear and explore parts of Atlantic Canada. When a good subject shows up, I find a quiet hill and draw for two or three hours. No photographs. The image is translated in the oldest, most direct language of symbols."

The wide angle world of a Robert Rutherford print seems to filter out all but the most essential lines and details, so that each element, whether wind or sail, hillside or house, shares the same organic simplicity. The Toronto born artist, who now works from Musquodoboit Harbour on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore, simplifies and repeats the fundamental shapes of his world to create an effect almost visionary in its dramatic, expansive evocation of sea, sky, and shoreline.

back to top