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Robert S. Hyndman began his formal art training at the Central Technical Institute in Toronto in 1934. Here he studied under Charles Goldhammer and Carl Schaefer both of whom later became official war artists during World War Two. After graduation in 1937, he moved to London England to do post graduate studies at the Central School of Arts and Crafts for two years. He decided to stay on in England and do freelance work as an illustrator of children's books.
In June of 1940, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. He learned to fly and for a while he was a flight instructor in Ottawa until the summer of 1943 when he returned to England to become a fighter pilot. He continued to sketch and paint during his spare time and his favourite subjects were the airplanes and crews of his own squadron. He also loved to do portraits and it wasn't long before he attracted the attention of the Canadian War Art Program. In 1944 he was appointed an Official War Artist with a studio in London where he set about painting the portraits of many R.C.A.F. Bomber Group Leaders. During a period of one and a half years he created 68 paintings.
When the war ended he returned to his home in Ottawa in 1947 and set up a studio where he continued to have numerous commissions for portraits and murals. Through numerous exhibitions, he also became known for his paintings of the Ontario landscape and historical buildings in Ottawa. In 1950 he was commissioned to paint the portrait of the Lieutenant Governor the Honourable J.J.Bowlen that hangs in the 3rd floor rotunda of the Alberta Legislature Building. In 1954 the R.C.A.F. re-commissioned him to produce a series of paintings of R.C.A.F. stations in England, France and Germany which were then exhibited across Canada. He taught art at the Ottawa School of Art and for eight consecutive summers, starting in 1964, he taught at the Banff School of Fine Arts. He returned to Alberta in 1973 when he was commissioned by the Alberta Government to paint the portraits of Speakers the Honourable G.N.Johnston and the Honourable A.J.Dixon for the Alberta Legislature Building and again in 1982 to paint the portrait of the Lieutenant Governor the Honourable Frank Lynch - Staunton that hangs in the 3rd floor rotunda of the Legislature Building.
His works can be found in many private and public collections in England, the United States and throughout Canada.
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