Born in St. John’s Newfoundland in 1898, Robert Pilot’s family moved to Montreal in 1911.  He studied with his stepfather Maurice Cullen and the famed William Brymner at the Art Association of Montreal School.  He joined the army in 1916 and served for three years.    In Paris he studied at the Academie Julian exhibiting at the 1922 Paris Salon becoming a member of the Salon Nationale des Beaux-Arts.  While in France Pilot met the accomplished impressionist painter, Camille Pissaro the relationship that ensued had a lasting influence and was instrumental in him developing his own style.  
Pilot is known as a master of light and shadow.  His snow paintings depict this dramatically.  “White Barn – Baie St. Paul” has beautiful tones ranging from violets and mauves to mint greens.  It is at once serene and stunning.  
While the Group of Seven admired Pilot he did not join their group.  In a 1928 interview with art critic Jean Chauvin Pilot said he considered himself “a classical painter because of his balance, sense of proportion and distaste for anything bizarre.” With the outbreak of the WWII Pilot again enlisted.  Painting scenes of the British countryside in his spare time.  In 1945 he returned to Canada and resumed painting.  He was a loner and while he respected other schools and ideas about painting he remained committed to his own instincts.  His work is highly regarded in the history of Canadian art.  He died in Montreal at the age of 70.