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An image of recto: Arthur Streeton (Study for 'Smike Streeton age 24') verso: (study of a veiled woman) by Tom Roberts

Tom Roberts

(England, Australia 08 Mar 1856–14 Sep 1931)

Title
recto: Arthur Streeton (Study for 'Smike Streeton age 24') verso: (study of a veiled woman)
Year
(circa 1891)
Media category
Drawing
Materials used
pencil on cream wove paper
Dimensions

32.8 x 24.3cm sheet

Signature & date
Not signed. Not dated.
Credit
Purchased 1998
Accession number
1.1998
Location
Not on display
Further information

This is a rare study for the much admired painted portrait 'Smike Streeton, age 24', 1891, purchased by the Gallery in 1945. It has the acuity of observation and immediacy of a study from life, lacking in a larger charcoal drawing Roberts made of Streeton in 1890 and purchased by the Gallery in 1934. The close association between Roberts and Streeton, as two of the most important Australian artists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, alone highlights the art historical value of this drawing. On its verso is a study of a female figure in a cloak.

R H Croll (1869-1947), librarian, senior public servant and writer, was Roberts' first biographer - 'Tom Roberts, father of Australian landscape painting' (1935). Croll also edited the first publication of Streeton's letters - 'Smike to bulldog' (1946). The Australian watercolour painter Len Annois (1906-66) was also a previous owner of the drawing.

excerpt from Hendrik Kolenberg, Anne Ryan and Patricia James, '19th century Australian watercolours, drawings & pastels in the Gallery's collection', Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2005

Bibliography (2)

Hendrik Kolenberg (Netherlands; Australia) (Author), Anne Ryan (Australia) (Author), Patricia James (Author), 19th century Australian watercolours, drawing and pastels from the Gallery's collection, Domain, 2005, 10, 84 (colour illus.).

'Collections', pg. 15-19., Art Gallery of New South Wales Annual Report 1998 1998, 1998, 15 (colour illus.).

Exhibition history (2)

Australian icons: twenty artists from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 04 Aug 2000–03 Dec 2000.

19th century Australian watercolours, drawings & pastels, Art Gallery of New South Wales, 06 Apr 2005–24 Jul 2005.