| Tom Roberts | |
 Portrait taken c. 1920-1925
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| Born | 8 March 1856 Dorchester, Dorset, England |
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| Died | 14 September 1931 'Talisman' in Kallista |
| Burial place | Illawarra churchyard, near Longford, Tasmania |
| Other names | Nickname Bulldog |
| Occupation | Painter |
| Spouse | Elizabeth (Lillie) Williamson (1896-1928) Jean Boyes (1928-1931) |
Thomas William Roberts (8 March 1856–14 September 1931), usually known simply as Tom, was a famous Australian artist and a key member of the Heidelberg School. Dorchester is a Market town in southern central Dorset, England, on the River Frome at the junction of the A35 and A37 Kallista is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges. The Illawarra is a region in the Australian state of New South Wales. Longford is a town in the north-east of Tasmania, Australia. It lies 21 km south of Launceston, just off Illawarra Road, a road connecting Tasmania is an Australian island and state of the same name It is located south of the eastern side of the Continent, being separated from it by Bass Events 1618 - Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion. Year 1856 ( MDCCCLVI) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Events 81 - Domitian becomes Emperor of the Roman Empire upon the death of his brother Titus. Year 1931 ( MCMXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. The Heidelberg School was an Australian art movement of the late 19th century
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Life
Born in Dorchester, Dorset, England, where his parents were newspaper editors, Roberts emigrated with his family to Australia in 1869. Dorchester is a Market town in southern central Dorset, England, on the River Frome at the junction of the A35 and A37 Dorset ( (or archaically, Dorsetshire) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Settling in Collingwood, a suburb of Melbourne, he worked as a photographer's assistant through the 1870s while studying art at night under Louis Buvelot and befriending others who were to become prominent artists, notably Frederick Bencubbin. Collingwood is an Inner city Suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Melbourne ( is the second most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 3 Louis Buvelot, born Abram-Louis Buvelot ( 3 March 1814 – 30 May 1888) was a Swiss -born landscape painter who emigrated He returned to England for three years of full-time art study at the Royal Academy Schools from 1881 to 1884. This article refers to an art institution in London For other meanings of Royal Academy see Royal Academy (disambiguation.
Through the 1880s and 1890s he worked in Victoria, in his studio at the famous studio complex of Grosvenor chambers at number 9 Collins Street in Melbourne, and at a number of artists' camps and visits around the colony. Grosvenor Chambers at number 9 Collins Street Melbourne was Australia's first custom built complex of artist's studios He married 35 year old Elizabeth (Lillie) Williamson in 1896, and they had a son, Caleb. Many of his most famous paintings come from this period. Roberts was an expert maker of picture frames, and during the period 1903-1914, when he painted relatively little, much of his income apparently came from this work. His artwork the Big Picture was a masterpiece because the faces were so clearly done.
He spent World War I in England assisting at a hospital, and spent additional time there in the period 19Australia, he built a house at Kallista, near Melbourne. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Kallista is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Yarra Ranges. This was a particularly productive and happy period in Roberts' life.
Elizabeth died in January 1928, and Tom remarried, to Jean Boyes, in August 1928. He died in 1931 of cancer at Kallista.
Works
Roberts painted a considerable number of fine oil landscapes and portraits, some painted at artist camps with his friend McCubbin, but perhaps his most famous works, of his era, were two large works, Shearing the Rams and The Big Picture.
Shearing the Rams, based on a visit to a sheep station (large farm) at Brocklesby in southern New South Wales, depicted the wool industry that had been Australia's first export industry and a staple of rural life. A sheep station is a large property ( station, the equivalent of a Ranch) in Australia or New Zealand whose main activity is the raising Brocklesby is a small village situated 45 kilometres north west of Albury and 76 kilometres west of Holbrook in Greater Hume Shire Council in the Wool is the fiber derived from the specialized skin cells called follicles of animals in the Caprinae family principally sheep, but the hair of certain species At the time it was exhibited, it was criticized because many 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 which many Australian people could identify with. The painting showed a view of the shearing sheds which was not in some cases realistic. Shearing would probably have been much messier; for instance the shearer on the left has picked the ram up to move it, when normally it would have been dragged backwards.
Roberts loved this theme of the value of the work of ordinary Australian people. He made many other paintings showing country people working, with a similar image of the shearing sheds in The Golden Fleece, a drover racing after sheep breaking away from the flock in A Break Away!, and with men chopping trees in Wood splitters. A drover in Australia is a person typically an experienced Stockman, who moves Livestock, usually sheep or cattle "on the hoof" over long distances Many of Roberts' paintings were landscapes or ideas done on small canvases that he did very quickly, such as his exhibits at the famous 9 x 5 exhibition in Melbourne, 9 x 5 referring to the size in inches of the cigar box lids which most of the paintings were done on. See also Cigar box (juggling and Baker Bowl (aka "The Cigar Box" A cigar box is a Box container for Cigar Roberts had more works on display in this exhibition than anyone else. Many of the paintings had humorous touches and anecdotes, showing Tom Roberts' sense of humour.
"The Big Picture", a depiction of the first sitting of the Parliament of Australia was an enormous work, very notable for the event depicted as well as the quality of Roberts' work. The Parliament of Australia or Commonwealth Parliament is the legislative branch of government of Australia.
References
- Topliss, Helen. Roberts, Thomas William (Tom) (1856 - 1931). Australian Dictionary of Biography. The Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB or AuDB is a multi-volume project published by Melbourne University Press. Australian National University. The Australian National University, commonly abbreviated to ANU, is a public Research university situated in Canberra, Australia. Retrieved on 2007-06-05. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 70 - Titus and his Roman Legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem in the Siege of Jerusalem
- Topliss, Helen (1985). Tom Roberts 1856-1931: A Catalogue Raisonne Volumes I and II. Oxford University Press, USA, 544 pages. ISBN 0195545133.
External links
- artistsfootsteps.com - source of most of the material for this article.
- ngv.vic.gov.au - "Shearing the Rams" at the National Gallery of Victoria. The National Gallery of Victoria is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne Australia.
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