GVHS Logo

Tributes

Robert S. Hyndman: Portraits Personified

West-Quebec Life, November 4, 1987

Robert Hyndman of Old Chelsea is an extraordinary artist. He has painted the Queen, Justices of the High Courts of Canada, the latest portrait of a Speaker of the House of Commons, the mayors of Ottawa, a U. S. congressman, and almost every hero that Canada produced during World War II. And he has done corporate portraits of any number of business tycoons for their board rooms, and then some!

Bob Hyndman mildly objected to my designation of him as Ottawa’s society artist. If the truth be known, almost everyone who is anybody has sat for his magic brush. But then too, as he rightly pointed out, he has painted many a portrait of people from other walks of life. But more of this later. There is a tale behind virtually every work of art that comes from his prolific brush. He recalls the trial of doing Charlotte Whitton’s portrait: “It took half an hour for her to get up the stairs to my Sparks Street studio, and every time she would take off a piece of clothing she would stop to tell me another story. Oh, I mean taking off her coat, overshoes and stuff; I did not paint her in the nude!” This was one of a series that Bob painted of the Mayors of Ottawa for City Hall.

Then there was the time he was commissioned to do the portrait of a gentleman, in celebration of his 100th birthday. “His 82-year-old daughter had to give him a shot of straight rye every half hour or so to keep him sitting up, and more or less alert.”

Bob Hyndman was born in Edmonton, “some while ago.” He said that he is “four years older than God’s uncle.” But age is rather immaterial, considering that he has lived somewhat of a charmed life. He survived the war as a Spitfire pilot, including a lone dogfight with a Messerschmitt: he shot it down. After 150 missions he came virtually right out of the cockpit from shooting up a train in Belgium, to become a celebrated war artist.

It happened like this. While in Canada prior to the war, he had been an art student, and later worked in London in the art department of a publishing house. He even sketched his way around Europe in the hectic days between 1937 and 1938. In 1939 he returned to Canada and joined the RCAF. He had many memorable moments learning to fly and even more as an instructor before he went back to England and was assigned to 411 Squadron, flying Spitfires in support of the Normandy invasion. During his off hours, he enjoyed sketching the officers and men of his Squadron. He did one sketch of his commanding officer, W/C “Buck” McNair, who showed the work to someone at HQ who recognized his talent, and he was asked if he wanted to become a war artist. He told me that the other alternative was “to become a flying instructor in the north of Scotland!”

Robert S. Hyndman
A wedding at St. Stephen'’s Church, Old Chelsea, caught the attention of artist Robert Hyndman and was the inspiration for this painting. Photo: Ernie Mahoney, 1987

Bob took the war artist job, and was assigned to a fifth floor studio in central London, painting portraits of war heroes, and listening to the V2 rockets land about it. This was 1944. He worked there for six months and returned to Canada as a war artist, this time painting Canadian heroes who had returned from the war.

Bob went on to explain that about six months after hostilities ended the National Gallery of Canada mounted an exhibition of wartime art, and that he was represented with five portraits and a battle scene. He noted, with a twinkle in his eye, “It was then that the old colonels and admirals started to call, wanting their portraits done — and those of their wives and daughters, too. To me, the war was a blessing in disguise.”

He was recalled to uniform in 1954, and then again in 1959, to record on canvas the airfields and new jets being flown by the RCAF in its NATO support role in Europe. Once again, Bob got lucky, and one of his paintings made Time magazine. Again this contributed to his demand as a portrait painter.

It was also in 1959 that Bob was given a commission by Chatelaine magazine to do a portrait of Queen Elizabeth. Now, one does not just ask if they can have Her Majesty sit for a few hours to have her portrait done. In fact, she is booked about six years in advance for this sort of thing. So the next best ploy was to be placed in a position where he could observe the Queen for long periods of time. He told me, “In an operation that was worthy of 007, I was disguised as a diplomat and attended two three-hour sessions at the Palace, and at Windsor Castle, where I could see the Queen at close quarters under ideal lighting conditions. The Chatelaine painting was done from my observations on these occasions.”

Incidentally, unlike many portrait painters who will work from photos of their subjects, Bob, as a matter of principle, will only do this if “the person is under the sod.” He works from sittings. For a major portrait he will require at least seven, but more often ten, sessions. While Bob is somewhat loathe to talk about money, he indicated that his fee is from $300 to $3,000, “but I am flexible,” he said.

His other commissions to date are not quite so dramatic as the Chatelaine assignment. He recently completed the formal portraits of the Justices of the Supreme and Canada Courts, and not long ago, finished the portrait of James Jerome, recently Speaker of the House of Commons. He also paints for fun, too.

Bob also proudly showed me a landscape he did of an old barn out Highway 17, it catches the mood of a late fall sky to perfection. A painting of a wedding party, as they emerged from St. Stephen’s Church in Chelsea, is done with the same masterstrokes that he uses for portraits of the great and near-great. Some of the paintings of beautiful young ladies who have caught his eye are worth a visit to his studio gallery. Bob does have a great eye for beauty, especially beautiful women. He has been teaching portrait life drawing and landscape painting, at the Ottawa School of Art since 1971. He will resume his classes there after Christmas, when he expects to be fully recovered from a nasty knee replacement operation.

Speaking of art schools, I reminded Bob that I was, in fact, a model for one of his portrait classes 30 years ago. The posing fee was the choice of the best painting by a student. Bob helped me choose one from a girl by the name of Shirley Van Dusen. The choice was a good one. Shirley is now one of Ottawa’s leading portrait painters. Bob is very proud of the painting that she did of him, when he pinch-hit for an absent model during the same class.

Bob is not a great admirer of abstract art that he says, “comes out of people’s heads.” While he has nothing against it, he believes in drawing as the basis of a good piece of art. He said that Rembrandt painted well, as did Degas and Renoir. “If you can’t enjoy these people, what the hell!”

He is a passionate admirer of Augustus John, a great English portrait painter, whom he says he visited before his death in 1961. “John influenced me more than anyone else. He could paint. It was magic, not just competence! Lots of painters have competence. They can do the job. But like Bing Crosby’s voice, Augustus John had that magic. There was something about his personality that he injected into his work. It was power and majesty.”

That, too, could be said about the work of Robert Hyndman.


Table of contents