Tomhu on the left

He lived with his family in Vancouver for 25 years at 2527 Quebec Street. In 1907 Tomhu's father writes "We spent more years in Vancouver than anywhere on earth."10 Because Tomhu painted in Toronto and Vancouver,we have many fine landscaped depicting Canada in the early stage of development. In his paintings he exhibits a real skill in showing natures many moods. This is especially seen in his portrayals of the sky in" Sun breaking thru Clouds". In describing Tomhu's painting in Coast, the Sea and Canadian Art, the author says, " The air feels dense and still-quiet like Vancouver at the end of a hot July day. And the pumpkin colored cloud are a complete surprise. Robert's audacity is still a little thrilling"11 As well as landscapes like "Country Scene" or "Coastal Cottage" or "Rail Ties" Tomhu captures the informality of local activities, which seem as natural as the land around him. One sketch is "Women Combing Girl's Hair. Many paintings show people in every day activities such as " Camp Story", and and "Indian Woman Walking on on theTies."

Tomhu was very good at portraiture. His love of faces and figures is shown in his sketch books - they are full of sketches of small faces. The finesses and detail of the sketches can be seen in many of them. Tomhu's sketchbooks and paintings are not only visual but written diaries of his artistic development. He filled his sketchbooks with theories of his techniques which he late use in teaching. Some of these writing include "Mixing and Using Oil Paints". "The Easiest Way of Painting Portraits and Landscapes", Proportion and Scale in Drawing". And "Color Techniques to Make a Picture Look Real". In his dairies he has carefully written out the philosophy and thought of F.W. Moody and Ruskin. Records show that Tomhu Huron Roberts later resided at Caulfieds until his death in 1938. Without Tomhu's patient study of color, light, shade, proportion and scale early in his life, his later paintings could not have been achieved so successfully. His painting reflects the natural beauty of Canada. We are certainly luck to have the painting and sketches of Tomhu showing Canada in it's pioneer days. 1, 2,4,5,6,7,8,10,12,12,13,14 are from Roberts, John Hugh Private Dairies 3 from Tomhu's writing 9. Thom.William W. Fine Art in Vancouver (1886-1960) A Historical Survey Thesis, University of British Columbia 11 Coasts, the Sea and Canadian Art The Gallery, Stratford, Ontario (Continue page 2 of Tomhu's work)