King’s Square

Robert Wakeham Pilot

1898 - 1967

Born in Newfoundland, Robert Pilot moved to Montréal in 1910 where his widowed mother married well-known Canadian painter Maurice Cullen. Growing up, Pilot literally learned at the feet of a master and accompanied his stepfather on trips to the countryside where he learned to paint landscapes.

Formally, Pilot studied at the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts before enlisting in the First World War. After the war, he returned to Montréal and was invited in 1920 to participate in Toronto as one of three outsiders in the first Group of Seven exhibition. Backed by a generous patron, Pilot later that year moved to Paris where he studied at the Academy Julian, was influenced by the impressionists and exhibited in the Paris Salon in 1922 before moving back to Montréal.

In 1925, he became an associate of the Royal Canadian Academy, and the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa acquired some of his works. Subsequently, he exhibited widely throughout Canada, the United States and abroad, including at the 1937 Coronation Year exhibit in London. One of his paintings was given to Winston Churchill on his 80th birthday and another to Queen Elizabeth II by then prime minister John Diefenbaker.

In 1969, two years after his death, the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts honored Pilot with a retrospective exhibit.

In King’s Square, capturing the heart of historic maritime Saint John, Pilot demonstrates his love for classic buildings and subtle colors. The city park maintains the formal path layout and central bandstand that are characteristic of its Victorian origins.