Tom Roberts

Tom Roberts was born on March 8, 1856, in Chelmsford, England, and immigrated to Melbourne in 1869. After studying at the Royal Academy Schools in London and traveling through France and Spain, Roberts returned to Melbourne in 1885 determined to paint Australian life in the open air (en plein air).

Establishing artist camps at Box Hill and Eaglemont with Arthur Streeton and Frederick McCubbin, Roberts founded the Heidelberg School. His 1890 masterwork Shearing the Rams celebrated manual bush labor with heroic classical dignity. In 1901, Roberts was commissioned to paint 'The Big Picture' (The Opening of the First Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia), featuring 269 individual portraits.