Tom Roberts
(England, Australia 08 Mar 1856–14 Sep 1931)
Holiday sketch at Coogee
- Other titles:
- Coogee Bay, Coogee
- Location
- 19th c Australian art
- Further information
Tom Roberts met Charles Conder in Sydney in 1888, and the two painted together at Coogee beach. These painting expeditions proved influential on the younger Conder. Later that year he followed Roberts to Melbourne to join him and Arthur Streeton at their artists’ camp at Heidelberg.
While Conder painted Coogee Bay with an emphasis on the decorative qualities of colour and form, Roberts’ 'Holiday sketch at Coogee' suggests his primary concern for the landscape’s natural effects. It is an early testament to Roberts’ plein-air ‘impressionist’ technique, which evokes the sun’s glare on the bright blue sea, bleached white sand, dry grass and spindly seaside vegetation.
- Place of origin
-
Coogee,
Sydney,
New South Wales,
Australia
- Year
- 1888
- Media
- Painting
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 40.3 x 55.9cm stretcher; 56.8 x 72.0 x 5.5cm frame
- Signature & date
- Signed and dated l.l. corner, dark brown oil "...Tom Roberts -/ April 88".
- Credit
- Purchased 1954
- Accession number
- 9078
