| HISTORY/BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH: | Robert Campbell was born in Dumbarton, Scotland in 1883. In 1906 he moved to Canada and for a short time settled in Leduc, Alberta. In 1908 he began homesteading near Mannville, Alberta. During this time he began using his leisure time for watercolour painting, an interest that he had developed while attending classes at Dumbarton Academy in Scotland. In 1909, Campbell moved to Edmonton where he worked as a plasterer until he joined the army in 1916. He was stationed in England as a dental technician during the First World War. When the war ended he returned to Edmonton and began a business in the Tegler Building as a dental technician. He retired in 1958.Although Robert Campbell had taken drawing lessons while in school in Scotland, it was not until 1916 while serving in the army that he began painting seriously. During this time he attended classes at Godalming and met Victor Wyatt Burnand. When he returned to Edmonton, he had a great deal of contact with William Johnstone, who had an art studio in the Tegler Building. Johnstone, Campbell and other artists felt the need for an art club, so they organised the Edmonton Art Club in 1921. Campbell was also a charter member of the Alberta Society of Artists and was a member of the Edmonton Trout Fisherman’s Club, his second hobby.Robert Campbell died January 5, 1967. |