Robert Harris CMG RCA (September 18, 1849 – February 27, 1919) was a Welsh-born Canadian painter, most noted for his portrait of the Fathers of Confederation.

Born in Caerhun, Conwy, Wales, Robert Harris grew up on his father’s farm before moving to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island in 1856.

In 1867, he travelled to Liverpool, where he independently studied and sketched from the plaster casts in the local museum, learning human anatomy and proportion.

named Kate Henderson converting a gathering of male trustees to her point of view, was the sensation of the 1886 Royal Canadian Academy of Arts show.

In the late '00s, Harris turned to painting in an Impressionist-influenced mode after purchasing the first book in English on the subject, The French Impressionists (1860–1900) by Camille Mauclair.

[3] Over the next eight years, he began to incorporate small touches of vibrant colour and the fluid brushwork of the Impressionists, while still maintaining the formal characteristics of academic portraiture.

In 1902, he was created a C.M.G.,[7] the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, a British order of chivalry awarded to men and women who hold high office or who render extraordinary or important non-military service in a foreign country, which can also be conferred for important or loyal service in relation to foreign and Commonwealth affairs.