Thomas William Roberts (8 March 185614 September 1931) was an English-born Australian artist and a key member of the

Heidelberg School The Heidelberg School was an Australian art movement of the late 19th century. It has been described as Australian impressionism. Melbourne art critic Sidney Dickinson coined the term in an 1891 review of works by Arthur Streeton and Walter ...

art movement, also known as Australian impressionism. After studying in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, he travelled to Europe in 1881 to further his training, and returned home in 1885, "primed with whatever was the latest in art". That year, he joined

Frederick McCubbin Frederick McCubbin (25 February 1855 – 20 December 1917) was an Australian artist, art teacher and prominent member of the Heidelberg School art movement, also known as Australian impressionism. Born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria, McCubb ...

in founding the

Box Hill artists' camp The Box Hill artists' camp was a site in Box Hill, Victoria, Australia favoured by a group of ''plein air'' painters in the mid to late 1880s who later became associated with the Heidelberg School art movement, named after Heidelberg, the site ...

, the first of several ''

plein air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or plein-air painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting is c ...

'' camps frequented by members of the Heidelberg School. Together with

Arthur Streeton Sir Arthur Ernest Streeton (8 April 1867 – 1 September 1943) was an Australian landscape painter and a leading member of the Heidelberg School, also known as Australian Impressionism. Early life Streeton was born in Mount Moriac, Victoria ...

and

Charles Conder Charles Edward Conder (24 October 1868 – 9 February 1909) was an English-born painter, lithographer and designer. He emigrated to Australia and was a key figure in the Heidelberg School, arguably the beginning of a distinctively Australi ...

, they staged the 1889

9 by 5 Impression Exhibition The 9 by 5 Impression Exhibition was an art exhibition held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It opened on 17 August 1889 at Buxton's Rooms on Swanston Street and featured 183 "impressions", the majority of which were painted by Charles Conder, ...

, Australia's first self-consciously avant-garde art exhibition. Nicknamed "Bulldog" due to his tenacity and drive, Roberts was considered the primary force behind the Heidelberg School movement. He encouraged other artists to capture the national life of Australia, and while he is best known today for his "national narratives"—among them ''

Shearing the Rams ''Shearing the Rams'' is an 1890 painting by Australian artist Tom Roberts. It depicts sheep shearers plying their trade in a timber shearing shed. Distinctly Australian in character, the painting is a celebration of pastoral life and work, espe ...

'' (1890), '' A break away!'' (1891) and ''

Bailed Up ''Bailed Up'' is a 1895 painting by Australian artist Tom Roberts. The painting depicts a stage coach being held up by bushrangers in an isolated, forested section of a back road. The painting is part of the collection of the Art Gallery of New ...

'' (1895)—he earned a living as a society portraitist, and was the first person to push for Australia to have its own

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

. In 1903, he completed the commissioned work '' The Big Picture'', the most famous visual representation of the first Australian Parliament.

Biography

Family and early life

Roberts was born in Dorchester,

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, although some mystery surrounds his actual birthdate: his birth certificate says 8 March 1856, whereas his tombstone is inscribed 9 March. Roberts migrated with his family to Australia in 1869 to live with relatives. Settling in Collingwood, a suburb of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, he worked as a photographer's assistant through the 1870s, while studying art at night under Swiss-born landscape painter

Louis Buvelot Louis Buvelot (3 March 1814 – 30 May 1888), born Abram-Louis Buvelot, was a Swiss landscape painter who lived 17 years in Brazil, and following 5 years back in Switzerland, stayed 23 years in Australia, where he influenced the Heidelberg Sch ...

and befriending others who were to become prominent artists, notably

Travels and studies in Europe

During this period, his mother had remarried to a man whom Roberts did not get along with. He decided to further his art studies, and returned to England for three years of full-time art study at the

Royal Academy Schools The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

from 1881 to 1884. He traveled in Spain in 1883 with Australian artist John Russell and future politician William Maloney, where he met Spanish artists

Laureano Barrau Laureano Barrau Buñol (1863, Barcelona – 21 October 1957, Santa Eulària des Riu) was a Spanish impressionist painter. Education Barrau began his education in Barcelona, his native city. Later, he studied in Madrid, finding the Spanish old ...

and

Ramon Casas Ramon Casas i Carbó (; 4 January 1866 – 29 February 1932) was a Spanish artist. Living through a turbulent time in the history of his native Barcelona, Catalonia, he was known as a portraitist, sketching and painting the intellectual, ec ...

, who introduced him to the principles of

impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

and ''

'' painting. While in London and Paris, he took in the progressing influence of painters

Jules Bastien-Lepage Jules Bastien-Lepage (1 November 1848 – 10 December 1884) was a French painter closely associated with the beginning of naturalism, an artistic style that grew out of the Realist movement and paved the way for the development of impressioni ...

and

James Abbott McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral a ...

Leader of the Heidelberg School movement

From 1884 and through to February 1892, Roberts worked again in Victoria, and became a prominent member of the bohemian artists' society the Buonarotti Club, adopting its habit of dress with a red satin lined opera cape and a ' crush topper,' though also advocating that professional artists be put in charge of the Club's exhibition activities; so instituted a selection panel of Frederick McCubbin, Louis Abrahams, John Mather,

Jane Sutherland Jane Sutherland (26 December 1853 – 25 July 1928) was an Australian landscape painter who was part of the pioneering plein-air movement in Australia, and a member of the Heidelberg School. Her advocacy to advance the professional standing of f ...

and himself, who would select and hang the works and provide exhibitors with constructive feedback. In the summer of 1885–86, Roberts began establishing "artists' camps" on the outskirts of Melbourne for the purpose of capturing ''en plein air'' the rural life and native bushland of Australia, as well as its light, heat, space and distance. At the first of these camps, the

(now in suburban Box Hill) he initially worked alongside McCubbin and Abrahams before they were joined by other artists. The Box Hill railway station had been completed only a few years earlier, allowing for convenient access to the Australian bush. The following summer, the trio established a second camp at bayside Mentone, a popular holiday spot. On

Mentone Beach Mentone Beach is a beach located in Mentone, on Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia, 21 kilometres south from the Melbourne City Centre. Mentone beach is the northern section of a beach that extends alongside Beaumaris Bay from the cliffs at R ...

, they met and befriended the young

, who was then painting ''en plein air''. Streeton became a frequent visitor to the artists' camps and a protege of Roberts, who taught him impressionistic techniques. From 1888, Roberts rented a studio in

Grosvenor Chambers Grosvenor Chambers, at number 9 Collins Street, Melbourne, contained the first custom-built complex of artists' studios in Australia. Initiation The owner was Edinburgh-born Charles Stewart Paterson (1843-1917) who with W. Davidson, and al ...

, at 9 Collins Street, Melbourne's first purpose-built complex of art studios. The architects consulted Roberts on the design of the building, to ensure ideal lighting. At Grosvenor Chambers, Roberts became one of Melbourne's most fashionable portraitists. Tom Roberts - Going home - Google Art Project

Tom Roberts - Going home - Google Art Project

Another meeting of importance was with

, who Roberts befriended during a visit to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in 1888. They painted ''en plein air'' together, creating companion views of Coogee Beach, and discussed impressionist techniques, which Conder had also picked up from expatriate artist G. P. Nerli. In October 1888, Conder followed Roberts to Melbourne, at first staying at his studio at Grosvenor Chambers. During the summer of 1888–89, Roberts and Conder joined Streeton at his

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

artists' camp, and began organising an exhibition of "impressions" they painted upon wooden cigar box lids, supplied by Abrahams, manager of the cigar business

Sniders & Abrahams Sniders & Abrahams was an Australian tobacco manufacturing company formed in 1886 in Melbourne, Victoria. It was the first Australian company to mass-produce cigarettes. One of the company's owners, Louis Abrahams, played a significant role in ...

. In doing so, the artists sought to capture the fleeting effects of nature in a spontaneous manner, and were intent on officially establishing themselves as "impressionists" and thus the vanguard of Australian art. The exhibition, named the

(in reference to the 9 x 5 inch dimensions of the lids), was held in August and September of 1889, at Buxton's Rooms. Roberts was the main exhibitor with 63 "impressions", followed by Conder and Streeton. McCubbin and

Charles Douglas Richardson Charles Douglas Richardson (7 or 9 July 1853 – 15 October 1932), often referred to as C. Douglas Richardson, was an English-born Australian sculptor and painter. In the 1880s, he was an associate of the Heidelberg School of impressionists, a ...

also accepted invitations to join the exhibition. It proved to be a ''

succès de scandale ''Succès de scandale'' ( French for "success from scandal") is a term for any artistic work whose success is attributed, in whole or in part, to public controversy surrounding the work. In some cases the controversy causes audiences to seek o ...

'', attracting scorn from a number of art critics, who dismissed impressionism as a fad. Today it is considered a landmark event in Australian art history, and the first independent exhibition of the

movement, named after the location of the aforementioned artists' camp. Due to his age, tenacity and influence, Roberts was considered the movement's de facto leader. Upon moving to Europe in 1890, Conder wrote to Roberts, saying, "If there is any distinct school in Melbourne, ... it's entirely due to you." When a severe economic depression hit Melbourne in 1890, Roberts and Streeton relocated to Sydney, where they continued to paint ''en plein air'' at artists' camps, including

Curlew Camp Curlew Camp was an artists' camp established in the late 19th century on the eastern shore of Little Sirius Cove, now part of Greater Sirius Cove in Sydney. It was home for some years to several leading Australian artists, such as Arthur Streeto ...

and other camps around

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a ria, natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove River, Lane ...

. From Sydney, both artists travelled into the rural districts of New South Wales, where they painted most of their iconic "national" pictures. For Roberts, these themes were reinforced by his association with members of Sydney's nationalist Bulletin School of literature, centered around the periodical '' The Bulletin''.

Final years

In 1896, he married 36-year-old Elizabeth (Lillie) Williamson and they had a son,

Caleb Caleb ( ; , Tiberian vocalization: , Modern Israeli Hebrew: ) is a figure who appears in the Hebrew Bible as a representative of the Tribe of Judah during the Israelites' journey to the Promised Land. Following the Israelite conquest of Ca ...

. Lillie Roberts was an expert maker of picture frames, and during the period 1903–1914, when Roberts painted relatively little, much of the family's income apparently came from Lillie's work. Roberts spent

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in England assisting at a hospital. Back in Australia, he built a house at

Kallista Kallista is a locality within Greater Melbourne beyond the Melbourne metropolitan area Urban Growth Boundary, 36 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Kall ...

, near Melbourne. Elizabeth died in January 1928, and Roberts remarried, to Jean Boyes, in August 1928. He died in 1931 of cancer in Kallista. His ashes are buried in the churchyard at Illawarra near

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It had a population of 10,952 at the 2022 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meeting of ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, one of his favourite painting spots.

Work

Roberts painted a considerable number of fine oil landscapes and portraits, some painted at artist camps with his friend McCubbin. Perhaps the most famous in his time were two large paintings, ''

'', now displayed in the

National Gallery of Victoria The National Gallery of Victoria, popularly known as the NGV, is an art museum in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is Australia's oldest and list of most visited art museums in the world, most visited art mu ...

and '' The Big Picture'', displayed in

Parliament House, Canberra Parliament House is the meeting place of the Parliament of Australia, the Legislature, legislative body of Politics of Australia, Australia's federal system of government. The building also houses the core of the Executive (government), execut ...

. ''The Big Picture'', commissioned for a fee of one thousand guineas plus expenses was a depiction of the first sitting of the Parliament of Australia in the Melbourne Exhibition Building and was an enormous work, notable for the event depicted as well as the quality of Roberts' work. Tom Roberts - Shearing the rams - Google Art Project

Tom Roberts - Shearing the rams - Google Art Project

''Shearing the Rams'' was based on a visit to a

sheep station A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a ranch) in Australia or New Zealand, whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and/or meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or sout ...

Brocklesby Brocklesby is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the West Lindsey Non-metropolitan district, district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated south of Habrough, south-west of Immingham, it is located close to the borde ...

in southern

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, depicted the

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

industry that had been Australia's first export industry and a staple of rural life. When it was first exhibited, there were immediately calls for the painting to enter a public gallery, with a Melbourne correspondent for the

press stating, "if our national gallery trustees were in the least patriotic, they would purchase it." Some critics did not feel that it fitted the definition of 'high art'. However, since the wool industry was Australia's greatest export industry at the time, it was a theme with which many Australian people could identify. In this painting, as one modern reviewer has said, Roberts put his formal art training to work, translating "the classical statuary into the brawny workers of the shearing shed". Tom Roberts Coogee

Roberts made many other paintings showing country people working, with a similar image of the shearing sheds in '' The Golden Fleece'' (1894), a drover racing after sheep breaking away from the flock in '' A break away!'', and with men chopping trees in '' Wood splitters'' (1886). Many of Roberts' paintings were landscapes or ideas done on small canvases that he did very quickly, such as his show at the famous ''

'' in Melbourne, "9 by 5" referring to the size in inches of the

cigar box A cigar box is a box container for cigar packaging. Traditionally, cigar boxes have been made of wood, cardboard or paper. Spanish cedar has been described as the "best" kind of wood for cigar boxes because of its beautiful grain, fine texture ...

lids on which most of the paintings were done. Roberts had more works on display in this exhibition than anyone else. Tom roberts Portret of Florence

In 1888 Roberts met Conder in Sydney and they painted together at Coogee beach. The younger Conder found these painting expeditions influential and decided to follow Roberts to Melbourne later that year to join him and Streeton at their artists' camp at Heidelberg. While Conder painted Coogee Bay emphasising on the decorative qualities of form and colour, Roberts'
Holiday sketch at Coogee
'(1888) embodies his primary focus on the landscape's natural effects. It is an early testament to Roberts' plein-air 'impressionist' technique, which brought out the sun's glare on the bright blue sea, bleached white sand, dry grass and spindly seaside vegetation.

Legacy

Roberts' life was dramatised in the 1985 Australian mini series ''

One Summer Again ''One Summer Again'' is a 1985 Australian docudrama miniseries about the painter Tom Roberts and the Heidelberg School art movement. Set in and around the city of Melbourne in the late 19th century, the film traces Roberts' career and his relatio ...

''. A "lost" painting titled ''

Rejected ''Rejected'' is an animated surrealist short comedy film directed by Don Hertzfeldt that was released in 2000. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film the following year at the 73rd Academy Awards, and received 27 a ...

'' was featured in a 2017 episode of the BBC series ''

Fake or Fortune? ''Fake or Fortune?'' is a BBC One documentary television series which examines the provenance and attribution of notable artworks. Since the first series aired in 2011, ''Fake or Fortune?'' has drawn audiences of up to 5 million viewers in t ...

''. It was determined by experts to be a genuine Roberts, dating from his student years in London. Roberts' granddaughter considered it a self-portrait. If so, it would make it his oldest surviving self-portrait.

Retrospectives

A retrospective toured Australia in 1996–97 and another was shown at the

National Gallery of Australia The National Gallery of Australia (NGA), formerly the Australian National Gallery, is the national art museum of Australia as well as one of the largest art museums in Australia, holding more than 166,000 works of art. Located in Canberra in th ...

from December 2015 – March 2016. Roberts was one of four Australian artists whose paintings featured in the ''Australia’s Impressionists'' exhibition at the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, which ran from December 2016 to March 2017; it was described as 'the first UK exhibition of its kind'.

Gallery

File:Tom Roberts - Coming South - Google Art Project.jpg, '' Coming South'', 1886, National Gallery of Victoria File:Tom Roberts - Slumbering sea, Mentone - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Slumbering Sea, Mentone'', 1887, National Gallery of Victoria File:Tom Roberts - An autumn morning, Milson's Point, Sydney - Google Art Project.jpg, ''An autumn morning, Milson's Point, Sydney'', 1888, Art Gallery of New South Wales File:Tom Roberts She-Oak and Sunlight.jpg, ''She-Oak and Sunlight'', 1889, National Gallery of Victoria File:Tom Roberts Lily Stirling.jpg, ''Lily Stirling'', 1890, National Gallery of Victoria File:Tom Roberts Collendina.jpg, ''The old barracks at Collendina'', 1891, National Gallery of Australia File:Tom Roberts - A break away! - Google Art Project.jpg, '' A break away!'', 1891, Art Gallery of South Australia File:Tom Roberts Charlie Turner.jpg, ''Aboriginal Head, Charlie Turner'', 1892, Art Gallery of New South Wales File:Tom Roberts - The Golden Fleece - Google Art Project.jpg, '' The Golden Fleece'', 1894, Art Gallery of New South Wales File:Tom Roberts - Mosman's Bay.jpg, ''Mosman's Bay'', 1894,

New England Regional Art Museum The New England Regional Art Museum, known as NERAM, is a museum of Australian art located in Armidale in the New England (New South Wales), New England region of New South Wales. NERAM's art collections are the second largest and most valuable r ...

File:Tom Roberts - Bailed up - Google Art Project.jpg, ''

'', 1895, Art Gallery of New South Wales

References

External links

*
Tom Roberts
at the

Art Gallery of New South Wales The Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), founded as the New South Wales Academy of Art in 1872 and known as the National Art Gallery of New South Wales between 1883 and 1958, is located in The Domain, Sydney, Australia. It is the most import ...

Tom Roberts on artistsfootsteps.com

Tom Roberts essay
at the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Tom 1856 births 1931 deaths Heidelberg School People from Dorchester, Dorset Artists from Melbourne British emigrants to the Colony of Victoria 19th-century Australian painters 19th-century English male artists 20th-century Australian painters 19th-century English painters English male painters 20th-century English painters Australian landscape painters Australian portrait painters Australian male painters 20th-century English male artists People from Collingwood, Victoria National Gallery of Victoria Art School alumni