Tom Roberts, artist

Tom Roberts
photograph
Reproduced in R.H. Croll Tom Roberts: father of Australian landscape painting. Melbourne: Robertson and Mullens Ltd. (1935)
National Library of Australia.
THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA'S
FEDERATION GATEWAY


ROBERTS, THOMAS WILLIAM (1856-1931)

Roberts was born in Dorchester, England on 9 March 1865, and arrived in Melbourne with his widowed mother in 1869. Roberts was the first major Australian painter to be selected to study at the Royal Academy of Arts, London in 1881. He studied impressionism in Europe, returning to Australia in 1885 and camped with Frederick McCubbin at Box Hill and with Arthur Streeton and Charles Conder at Eaglemont, and dedicated himself to painting the light and colour of the bush. He led the 'Heidelberg School' of artists.

Roberts became foundation president of the Society of Artists in 1895 and was one of the first to paint outback subjects, 'Shearing the Rams' and 'A Break Away' being among the best-known. He postponed his return to Europe to paint the opening of the first Commonwealth Parliament, completing it in London in 1903.

Tom Roberts served as a hospital orderly in World War I , returning to Australia in 1923 and settling at Kallista, near Melbourne. He died there on 14 September 1931.

Books of interest

Roberts, Tom. (1972). Tom Roberts / [by] Virginia Spate ; Editorial consultant, John Henshaw. Melbourne: Lansdowne.

Croll. Robert Henderson. (1935). Tom Roberts : father of Australian landscape painting. Melbourne: Robertson & Mullens.

Dutton, Geoffrey. (1989). Tom Roberts, 1856-1931 : a biographical sketch. Brisbane: Oz Publishing Co.

McQueen, Humphrey. (1996). Tom Roberts. Sydney: Macmillan.

Many images of Tom Roberts paintings can be found in the Pictures Catalogue.

 

Home | About this Site | Chronology | Exhibitions | Links | People | Politics | Resources