Tom Roberts b. 1856 Dorchester, England, UK

  • Artist (Photographer), (Printmaker), (Sculptor), (Cartoonist / Illustrator), (Draughtsman), (Painter)
One of Australia's most iconic painters, Tom Roberts was an early champion of plein-air painting and together with Frederick McCubbin, Roberts helped establish the famous painting camps around Heidelberg in Victoria.
Talk | Version history | Updated Dec. 26, 2011 | Created Jan. 1, 2006
Name
Tom Roberts
Birth date
9 March 1856
Birth place
Dorchester, England, UK
Death date
14 September 1931
Death place
Kallista, Vic.
Gender
Male
Roles
  • Artist (Photographer)
  • Artist (Printmaker)
  • Artist (Sculptor)
  • Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator)
  • Artist (Draughtsman)
  • Artist (Painter)
Residence
  • 1923- 1931 Victoria
  • 1903- 1923 England, UK (Visited Australia 1919 and 1920 )
  • 1901- 1903 Melbourne, Vic.
  • 1891- 1901 Sydney, NSW
  • 1889- 1891 New South Wales
  • c.1885- c.1889 Melbourne, Vic.
  • 1881- 1885 England, UK
  • 1869- 1881 Melbourne, Vic.
  • 1856- 1869 England, UK
Other Occupation
  • Hospital orderly
Arrival
  • 1869
Active Period
  • c.1873- c.1930
Languages
  • English
Training
  • 1874- 1880 National Gallery School, Melbourne, Vic.
  • c.1873- Schools of Design at Collingwood and Carlton, Melbourne, Vic.
Is Indigenous
No

Tom Roberts was born on 9 March 1856 in Dorchester, England, the son of a newspaper editor. In 1869, following his father’s death, the thirteen-year-old Roberts emigrated to Australia with his family. In Melbourne he worked for a photographer and, in 1873, attended weekly drawing classes at the Schools of Design at Collingwood and Carlton. He studied at the National Gallery School, Melbourne, from 1874 to 1880, then in 1881 he travelled to London where he attended the Royal Academy Schools from 1881-83. To help finance his studies he contributed illustrations to Graphic . In the summer of 1883 Roberts visited Spain; he met Spanish art students Laureano Barrau and Ramon Casas, who encouraged him to paint directly in front of the motif. Roberts returned to Melbourne in 1885, where he promoted plein air painting and, together with Frederick McCubbin , established the famous painting camps around Heidelberg, on the outskirts of Melbourne. He was a major instigator of the 9 × 5 Impressions Exhibition of 1889.

During 1889-98 Roberts worked in Sydney around Sirius Cove and spent much of his time visiting outback stations in New South Wales, painting rural works of a national character such as Shearing the rams 1890 (National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne). He also established a reputation for his portraits, including those of public figures such as Sir Henry Parkes, and a series of 23 informal panel portraits of Australian types. He moved to Sydney in 1891.

In 1901 Roberts was commissioned to paint a vast representation of the opening in Melbourne of the first Federal Parliament of Australia and, in 1903, he returned to England where he completed the work. During the First World War he served as an orderly at the 3rd London General Hospital, Wandsworth. After visits to Australia in 1919 and 1920, he returned in 1923 where he painted landscapes in a low-key palette. Tom Roberts died from cancer on 14 September 1931 at Kallista, Victoria.

Writers:
Gray, Dr Anne Note: Head of Australian Art, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT
Date written:
2006
Last updated:
2011
associate of
Charles Conder
1868
Artist (Draughtsman), Artist (Printmaker), Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator), Artist (Painter), Artist (Textile Artist / Fashion Designer)
associate of
Louis Buvelot
1814
Artist (Photographer), Artist (Painter), Artist (Printmaker)
associate of
Frederick McCubbin
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
Sir Henry Parkes
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
Laureano Barrau
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
Ramon Casas
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
associate of
Louis Abrahams
1852
Artist (Painter)
associate of
H. Walter Barnett
1862
Artist (Photographer)
associate of
Andrew Barrie
Artist (Photographer)
associate of
Geoffrey Batchen
1956
Artist (Photographer)
associate of
George Bell
1878
Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator), Artist (Printmaker), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Florence Turner Blake
1873
associate of
Mary Boyd
1926
Artist (Ceramist), Artist (Photographer), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Oswald Rose Campbell
1820
Artist (Draughtsman), Artist (Photographer), Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Ugo Catani
1861
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Thomas Clark
1814
Artist (Painter)
associate of
George Coates
1869
Artist (Draughtsman), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Isidor Cohen
Artist (Photographer)
associate of
Ebenezer Wake Cook
1844
Artist (Photographer), Artist (Painter)
associate of
E. Phillips Fox
1865
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Eleanor Henderson Harrison
1854
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Livingston Hopkins
1846
Artist (Painter), Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator)
associate of
Sir John Longstaff
1861
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Arthur Jose De Souza Loureiro
1853
Artist (Draughtsman), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Matthew James MacNally
1873
Artist (Printmaker), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Frank Mahony
1862
Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Gother Victor Fyers Mann
1863
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Cyrus Mason
1829
Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator), Artist (Printmaker), Artist (Painter)
associate of
John Williams Maund
1876
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Frederick McCubbin
1855
Artist (Painter), Artist (Draughtsman)
associate of
Isabel Agnes McDonald
1871
Artist, Artist (Painter)
associate of
Emily Meston
1866
Artist (Draughtsman), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Alice Mills
1870
Artist (Photographer)
associate of
Benjamin Edwin Minns
1863
Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Alice Jane Muskett
1869
Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Charles Nuttall
1872
Artist (Draughtsman), Artist (Printmaker), Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Elizabeth Parsons
1831
Artist (Printmaker), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Leon Pole
1871
Artist (Industrial / Product Designer), Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Jane Price
1860
Artist (Painter)
associate of
James Quinn
1869
Artist (Painter)
associate of
William Francis Roberts
Artist (Photographer)
associate of
Thomas Roberts
Artist (Draughtsman), Artist (Painter)
associate of
A. Constance Roth
1859
Artist (Industrial / Product Designer), Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator), Artist (Painter)
associate of
John Peter Russell
1858
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Ruth J. Simpson
Artist (Draughtsman)
relative of
Jessie W. Simpson
1883
Artist (Painter)
associate of
David Henry Souter
1862
Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Percy Spence
1868
Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator), Artist (Draughtsman), Artist (Painter)
associate of
Walter Brookes Spong
1851
Artist (Painter)
associate of
Robert Stewart
Artist (Photographer)
associate of
Arthur Streeton
1867
Artist (Draughtsman), Artist (Printmaker), Artist (Painter)
associate of
May Vale
1862
Artist (Painter), Artist
spouse of
Elizabeth Williamson
1860
Artist (Painter)
friend of
Walter Withers
1854
Artist (Draughtsman), Artist (Painter), Artist (Printmaker), Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator)
The quarry, Maria Island
Date
1926
URL
http://cs.nga.gov.au/Detail.cfm?IRN=45161
Head of Caleb (plaster sculpture "Head of a Boy")
Date
1907
URL
http://cs.nga.gov.au/Detail.cfm?IRN=43769
Opening of the first Parliament of the Australian Commonwealth, 9th May 1901 - with remarque of Edward VII.
Date
1903
URL
http://cs.nga.gov.au/Detail.cfm?IRN=46996
Shearing the rams
Date
1890
URL
http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/collection/australian/painting/r/apa00106.html
Going home
Date
1889
URL
http://cs.nga.gov.au/Detail.cfm?IRN=38667
Holiday sketch at Coogee
Date
1888
URL
http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/australianimpressionism/education/images/ssites/large/roberts_skcoogee.jpg
Collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales
A Sunday afternoon [A Sunday afternoon picnic at Box Hill]
Date
1886
URL
http://cs.nga.gov.au/Detail.cfm?IRN=35101
A quiet day on Darebin Creek [Merri Creek]
Date
1885
URL
http://cs.nga.gov.au/Detail.cfm?IRN=41399
Collections
Australian Impressionism
31 March 2007- 8 July 2007
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne, Vic.
http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/australianimpressionism/
Ocean to Outback: Australian landscape painting 1850-1950
2007- 2009
Exhibition (exhibited at)
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT
http://www.nga.gov.au/AboutUs/press/OceanToOutback.cfm
Touring exhibition
Tom Roberts: 'Bailed Up', 1895/1927
25 July 1998- 25 October 1998
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW
Tom Roberts
1996
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA
The Australian Landscape
1972- 1973
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA
"The Australian Landscape" was a national touring exhibition organised by the Australian Gallery Directors' Council in 1972. The organising gallery was the Art Gallery of South Australia, and the curators were Daniel Thomas (Art Gallery of New South Wales) Ian North (Art Gallery of South Australia) and Frances McCarthy [later Lindsay] (National Gallery of Victoria). Generous funding from the Peter Stuyvesant foundation enabled the curators to travel the country together in order to make considered judgements. The exhibition opened at the Art Gallery of South Australia on 3 March 1972, and toured to the Western Australian Art Gallery, National Gallery of Victoria, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Australian National Gallery (temporary premises), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Newcastle City Art Gallery, and the Queensland Art Gallery. The catalogue introduction claims that the exhibition comprised of 'fifty-five of the best Australian landscapes ever executed'. It was characterised by a breadth of vision, with works from every state – including regional galleries and private collections. It is distinguished by having a greater emphasis on colonial works than previous exhibitions, and elevating the reputation of Eugene Von Guerard and John Glover. There were only two works by women – Grace Cossington Smith and Margaret Preston– and none by any Aboriginal artist.
'9 by 5' Impressions exhibition
August 1889
Exhibition (exhibited at)
Buxton's Art Gallery, Melbourne, Vic.
Recognitions
To make a vast representation of the opening of the first Federal Parliament
1901
Award
Citations:
  • Eagle, Mary, (1997), The Oil Paintings of Tom Roberts in the National Gallery of Australia, (Place: National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT)
  • Radford, Ron, (1996), Tom Roberts, (Place: Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, SA)
  • McQueen, Humphrey, (1996), Tom Roberts, (Place: Macmillan, Melbourne, Vic.)
  • Topliss, Helen, (1985), Tom Roberts 1856-1931, A Catalogue Raisonné, (Place: Oxford University Press, Melbourne, Vic. (2 vols.))
  • Spate, Virginia, (1972), Tom Roberts, (Place: Lansdowne Press, Melbourne, Vic. (revised 1978))
  • Spate, Virginia, (1964), Tom Roberts catalogue of Tom Roberts works, (Place: manuscript)
  • Croll, R.H., (1935), Tom Roberts: Father of Australian Landscape Painting, (Place: Robertson & Mullens, Melbourne, Vic.)
  • National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT
  • Moore, William, (1934), The Story of Australian Art, (Place: Sydney, NSW : Angus & Robertson (2 vols, facsimile reprint 1980))
  • Thomas, D., North, I., & McCarthy F., (1972), The Australian Landscape, (Published by the Art Gallery of South Australia), Type: catalogue