{{Short description|Canadian artist (born 1933)}} {{Infobox artist | name = Jim Robb | image = Kissing_Buildings,_Jim_Robb,_2015.jpg | imagesize = | caption = ''Kissing Buildings'' by Jim Robb, ''circa'' 2015 | birth_name = James I. Robb | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1933}} | birth_place = Quebec City, Quebec, Canada | death_date = | death_place = | alma_mater = | field = Painter | training = | movement = | works = | patrons = | awards = Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal; Member of the Order of Canada; King Charles III Coronation Medal | honorific_suffix = CM | style = Exaggerated truth }}
'''James I. Robb''' {{Post-nominals|country=CAN|CM|size=100%}} (born 1933) is a Canadian artist known for his paintings celebrating the life, culture and history of the Yukon.<ref name=":2" />
== Early life == Robb was born in 1933 in Quebec City, Quebec, and moved to Montreal with his family when he was six years old. In 1955, Robb moved to the Yukon, and currently resides in Whitehorse. Robb worked various jobs in the Yukon until eventually taking up painting.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Jim Robb|url=https://yukonart.ca/collections/jim-robb|access-date=2021-10-15|website=North End Gallery}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qfoUAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Jim+Robb%22+painter+-wikipedia|title=The Alaska Journal|publisher=Alaska Northwest Publishing Company|year=1975|location=Alaska|pages=224|language=en}}</ref>
== Career == Robb began his artistic career working with pastels and charcoal on raw moose hide, eventually finding his way to watercolour paintings and photography.<ref name=":0" />
Robb attempts to capture the folklore of the Yukon in his paintings,<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last1=Lerner|first1=Loren Ruth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gquqnLOBH9gC&dq=%22Jim+Robb%22+painter+-wikipedia&pg=PA722|title=Art and Architecture in Canada: A Bibliography and Guide to the Literature to 1981|last2=Williamson|first2=Mary F.|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=1991|isbn=978-0-8020-5856-0|location=Toronto|pages=722|language=en}}</ref> and is widely known for his rustic depictions of contemporary and historic Yukon landmarks and buildings.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-02-20|title='Here comes the condos': Iconic Yukon artist depicts changing city|work=CBC News|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/jim-robb-outhouses-condos-artwork-1.5921172|access-date=2021-10-16}}</ref> Robb's artistic style, known as "exaggerated truth", takes inspiration from Yukon’s famous lopsided and leaning structures, particularly those found in Dawson City,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Leduc |first=Heather |date=2021-11-03 |title=Jim Robb is still coming up with new ideas |url=https://whatsupyukon.com/yukon/yukoners/jim-robb-is-still-coming-up-with-new-ideas/ |access-date=2021-11-04 |website=Whatsup Yukon |language=en-CA}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=Kissing Buildings-Original-Framed-Jim Robb |url=https://yukonart.ca/products/kissing-buildings-original-framed |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020021427/https://yukonart.ca/products/kissing-buildings-original-framed?variant=39350898196549 |archive-date=2021-10-20 |access-date=2021-10-16 |website=North End Gallery}}</ref> which is exemplified by his 2015 painting, ''Kissing Buildings''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=ICI.Radio-Canada.ca |title=Le Yukon à la pointe du crayon |url=https://ici.radio-canada.ca/empreintes/3671/whitehorse-personnages-goldrush-nord-artiste |access-date=2022-06-23 |website=Radio-Canada.ca |language=fr-ca}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Jim Robb Pins - Yukon Transportation Museum |url=https://goytm.ca/product/jim-robb-pins/ |access-date=2024-08-30 |language=en-US}}</ref> Robb's work is widely featured in books, magazines and newspapers,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Order of Canada|url=https://archive.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=8815|access-date=2021-10-15|website=archive.gg.ca}}</ref> with originals of his watercolours selling for thousands of dollars (CAD).<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Two Man Mining Company-Original-Framed-Jim Robb|url=https://yukonart.ca/products/two-man-mining-company-original-framed|access-date=2021-12-19|website=North End Gallery}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bonnay |first=Vincent |date=2022-04-03 |title=Jim Robb has spent a lifetime drawing Yukon history in colourful characters and places |url=https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6405994 |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=CBC News}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Plonka|first=Gabrielle|date=2020-02-04|title=Book on colourful characters to be released tomorrow|url=https://www.whitehorsestar.com/News/book-on-colourful-characters-to-be-released-tomorrow|access-date=2021-11-06|website=Whitehorse Daily Star|language=en}}</ref>
== Honours == Robb was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Office of the Secretary to the Governor General|title=Mr. Jim Robb|url=https://www.gg.ca/en/honours/recipients/125-15675|access-date=2022-01-03|website=The Governor General of Canada}}</ref> and appointed a Member of the Order of Canada on October 30, 2003, in recognition of his artistic achievements.<ref name=":1" /> In 2025, Robb was awarded the King Charles III Coronation Medal.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-07 |title=Yukon Commissioner presents honours, including Order of Yukon |url=https://www.yukon-news.com/news/yukon-commissioner-presents-honours-including-order-of-yukon-7743165 |access-date=2025-05-14 |website=Yukon News |language=en}}</ref>
== See also ==
* Joseph Tisiga (artist) * Shane Wilson (sculptor) * Ted Harrison (painter)
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://yukonart.ca/collections/jim-robb Jim Robb Collection] * [https://whatsupyukon.com/tag/jim-robb/ Local stories about Jim Robb]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robb, Jim}} Category:1933 births Category:Living people Category:Anglophone Quebec people Category:Artists from Quebec City Category:Artists from Yukon Category:Canadian male painters Category:People from Whitehorse Category:20th-century Canadian painters Category:21st-century Canadian painters Category:20th-century Canadian male artists Category:21st-century Canadian male artists