Colonel Arthur J.E. Kirkpatrick, VD, ADC – Thirteenth Commanding Officer, 1922-1925 and Honorary Lieutenant Colonel from 1936-1946. The original oil painting by Lieutenant (Robert) Allan Barr, hangs in the Queen’s Own Rifles Officers’ Mess. Photograph by Christopher Lawson, June 17, 2010.

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Lieutenant (Robert) Allan Barr, 1890-1959 – Born in Chiswick, London, England, he studied at the London School of Art under Frank Brangwyn, John M. Swan, George W. Lambert, and William Nicholson (1907-11); at the Regent Street Polytechnic, Lond. (1908-10). During W.W. I he served in England and France with the British Army first as a cadet in the Artists’ Rifles and then as a Lieutenant with the 1st Monmouthshire Regiment.

He came to Kingston, Canada in 1922, then moved to Toronto in 1923. There he distinguished himself as a portrait painter who employed excellent craftsmanship and dramatic treatment of light and shadow. Some of his better known portraits include: Sir Charles G.D. Roberts (poet/writer); Lt.-Col. J. Keiller MacKay, D.S.O., K.C. (Justice, On. Supr. Court); Dr. Pelham Edgar (Prof. Vict. College, UT/ author/editor); Mrs. Alleyne Sutherland (port. in AGO). He was also known for his landscapes and still lifes. He taught at the Ontario College of Art (1943-44). He is represented in the following collections: NGC, Ott.; AEAC, Kingston, Ont.; AGO, Tor.; and elsewhere. Membership: ARCA (1928); OSA (1927-38); Ont. Inst. Painters (1958). Died in Toronto.