Robert M. Robinson was born in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1953. His artistic talent became evident at an early age and he was invited to join and study with the Harry Hickman Landscape Art Association at age 13. After graduating with a Fine Arts Degree from Edinboro University in 1975, he exhibited his work in a one-man show at the Bates Gallery. While a member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Jon Caldwell, former contemporary art curator of the Carnegie Museum of Art, purchases “Souvenir”, to add to the museum’s permanent collection. “Souvenir” remains a bold tribute to Pittsburgh’s dying steel industry. It was the artist’s first major use of steel as an art medium.
In 1991, Carnegie Museum of Art Curator, Vicky Clark invited Robert M. Robinson to show his work in conjunction to Pittsburgh’s Three Rivers Arts Festival, as part of a special exhibit entitled, “ Degrees of Abstraction”. Hailed by art critic, Harry Schwad, as one of Pittsburgh’s “Young Turks”, Robinson began to gain regional recognition. Since then, Robinson has had many one-man shows and has received numerous awards for his work. Use of carbon steel framing continues to distinguish his work, and showcase his latest “studio” paintings, which are collected privately as well as corporately, both nationally and internationally.