Tom Roberts

Tom Roberts
Roberts, c. 1895
Born	8 March 1856 (1856-03-08) Dorchester, Dorset, England
Died	14 September 1931(1931-09-14) (aged 75) Kallista, Victoria, Australia
Resting place	Illawarra churchyard, near Longford, Tasmania
Other names	Nickname Bulldog
Occupation	Artist
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth (Lillie) Williamson (m. 1896–1928) Jean Boyes (m. 1928–31)
Parent(s)	(Father) Richard Roberts (Mother) Matilda

Thomas William "Tom" Roberts (8 March 1856 – 14 September 1931) was an Australian artist and a key member of the Heidelberg School, also known as Australian Impressionism. After attending art schools in Melbourne, he left for Europe in 1881 to further his training, and returned home in 1885, "primed with whatever was the latest in art". He did much to promote en plein air painting and encouraged other artists to capture the national life of Australia. While he is best known for his "national narratives", among them Shearing the Rams (1890), A break away! (1891) and Bailed Up (1895), he also achieved renown as a portraitist.

Roberts was born in Dorchester, Dorset, England, although some mystery surrounds his actual birthdate: his birth certificate says 8 March 1856, whereas his tombstone is inscribed 9 March. He migrated with his family to Australia in 1869 to live with relatives. Settling in Collingwood, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, 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 McCubbin. He returned to England for three years of full-time art study at the Royal Academy Schools from 1881 to 1884. He traveled in Spain in 1883 with Australian artist John Peter Russell, where he met Spanish artists Laureano Barrau and Ramon Casas who introduced him to the principles of Impressionism and plein air painting. While in London and Paris, he took in the progressing influence of painters Jules Bastien-Lepage and James Abbott McNeill Whistler.