There are landscapes we remember because of where they are. And then there are landscapes we remember because of who we were with when we saw them.
For artist Robert Florian, this distinction lies at the heart of Letters to Barbara, a deeply personal new collection presented at Art Works Gallery. Created over the past two years, the exhibition is both a tribute to his late wife, Barbara, and a reflection on the role she played throughout his life as an artist.
Barbara was not simply an observer of Florian's work. She was, in his words, a “silent co-author” of his canvases — someone whose instinctive eye could help him find his way through a difficult painting and whose encouragement helped shape the course of his artistic life.
After her passing, the act of painting changed.
“To paint over the last two years has been to navigate an uncharted wilderness of grief,” Florian writes. “When the soul is heavy, the hand forgets how to be light.”
Letters to Barbara emerges from that wilderness.
A Life Changed by Looking
Florian's relationship with painting began decades ago, but his journey as an artist was profoundly influenced by Barbara.
In the early 1990s, while studying Fine Arts at Langara College with an initial interest in graphic design, Florian travelled to Paris. The experience introduced him to Impressionism and modernism in a way that would alter the direction of his life.
Barbara recognized that shift before he fully acted upon it. She encouraged him away from the security of commercial art and toward the unpredictable life of a painter.
When Florian's work was eventually shown at the West Vancouver Library Gallery, the two began looking toward something more permanent. Barbara helped guide the curation of his portfolio as they approached galleries, eventually leading to his first exhibition at Art Works Gallery.
That exhibition became a turning point.
Today, decades later, Florian returns to the gallery with a collection that is inseparable from the person who helped him find his way there.
Experience the Exhibition in Person
Letters to Barbara by Robert Florian opens at Art Works Gallery on Thursday, September 17, from 5–8 PM. or Saturday, September 19, from 1–4 PM
While the collection can be viewed online, these paintings are ultimately works to experience in person. Their scale, texture, colour and physical presence reveal something that a screen cannot fully reproduce.
We invite you to spend time with the work, move between the recognizable landscapes and the abstracted memories, and discover the connections between them.
Explore Robert Florian's collection online →
Letters to Barbara
Robert Florian
Art Works Gallery