Cliff Robinson

Clifford Robinson spent much time on his Uncle's ranch, the T Lazy H. His father, W. Robinson, was an author, and his grandfather, Sir J. Robinson, was the first Chancellor of Trinity College in Toronto. He decided to become a full time artist during the Depression; while in his teens, he won a scholarship to the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art. He also studied at the University of British Columbia and at the Banff School of Fine Arts. Robinson's teachers were Walter J. Phillips, Alfred Leighton, Henry Glyde and James Nicoll. One of his fellow students was Margaret Shelton.

Five years after he graduated, he was elected to the Society of Canadian Painters and Etchers, which was a group of thirty artists, two of whom were Walter J. Phillips and Alfred Leighton. Phillips taught Robinson linocut. He was motivated by the black and white directness and dynamic graphic quality. Robinson also tried woodcut, but found the process too slow. In the early forties, Robinson lived with the Stoney Tribe at Morley, where he was known as Wah-Gah, the Grasshopper. He then decided to teach at the Canadian School of Camouflage in Vancouver. From 1947 to 1948, Robinson returned to the Banff School; however, this time he was an instructor in art and theatre design, working with A.Y. Jackson. University of British Columbia hired him as the first travelling instructor in art and design, in 1949. In 1952, Robinson met Lawren Harris and Emily Carr at the Vancouver School of Fine Art, where he took a teaching position. He was also the First Director of T.V. for C.B.C., as well as Set Director for the First Vancouver International Festival. Although Robinson always considered Canada home, he traveled extensively throughout Europe: he painted and exhibited in France, Italy, Greece, Spain, Lebanon, and former Yugoslavia. He has also taught in California, and worked there as a set designer in theatre and televisions. His work can be found in the permanent collections of the Library of Congress, the National Gallery of New York, the National Gallery of Canada, the Glenbow Museum, the Shell Oil Collection, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and many others.