Tom Roberts
1856-1931

The present work is a delightfully fresh, previously undocumented plein-air sketch by the 'father of Australian landscape painting.' (1) It is painted on a cedar panel (there are traces of pigment on all four edges, indicating it has not been cut down) in a square format like that of The She-Oak (circa 1889-1891, Private Collection). The initials TR are a common form of the artist's signature in the 1880s and 1890s, as is their inscription into wet paint, as here. The rapid, direct brushwork, particularly in the sky and clouds, is also consistent with Roberts' landscapes of the period. The subject is unknown; formerly described as of a hillside in Tasmania, it is in fact more likely to be a Sydney Harbour subject, possibly one of the headlands east of the artists' camp at Sirius Cove such as Bradley's Head or Chowder Head.
Dr David Hansen
(1) R.H. Croll, Tom Roberts: Father of Australian Landscape Painting, Robertson & Mullens, Melbourne, 1935