Tom Roberts
(England, Australia 08 Mar 1856–14 Sep 1931)
- Title
- Aboriginal head - Charlie Turner
- Other titles:
- Aboriginal head (Charlie Turner)
Head of an Aboriginal
Aboriginal Head - Place of origin
-
Corowa →
New South Wales →
Australia
- Year
- 1892
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on canvas on paperboard
- Dimensions
-
39.4 x 29.8cm board; 53.9 x 44.4 x 6.5cm frame
- Signature & date
- Signed and dated l.l., brown oil "Tom Roberts./ 1892".
- Credit
- Purchased 1892
- Accession number
- 664
- Location
- Not on display
- Further information
Tom Roberts made portraits of Aboriginal people as part of his broader project to record for posterity subjects that he regarded as being characteristic of Australian life. His focus here on the subject’s eyes was unusual among 19th-century depictions of Indigenous people for its poignant evocation of an inner life – at the time there was a widespread belief that Australia’s Indigenous people were a dying race.
This portrait may have been painted from studies Roberts made of Aboriginal people during his stay at Corowa in the Riverina in 1890–91. However, it is also possible that Roberts produced it during his 1892 visit to Cooktown, North Queensland, where he also sketched various local Indigenous people.
- Bibliography (34)
-
Jaynie Anderson (Editor), The Cambridge companion to Australian Art, Port Melbourne, 2011, 295, 366. fig.no. 21.4 (colour illus.), between pg. 268 and 269.
Look Oct 2009, Oct 2009, 52 (colour illus.). What's on section of the Society magazine.
Jeanette Hoorn (Editor), Reframing Darwin: evolution and the arts in Australia, Carlton, 2009, 118 (colour illus.), 120 (colour illus.).
John McDonald (Australia, b.1961) (Author), Art of Australia. Vol. 1: Exploration to Federation, Sydney, 2008, 576 (colour illus.), 579.
Terence Lane (Editor), Australian Impressionism, Melbourne, 2007, 187, 336, 192 (colour illus.). cat.no. 10.10
Rex Butler (Editor), Radical revisionism: an anthology of writings on Australian art, Brisbane, 2005, 164.
Inverell Art Gallery (Australia) (Author), Tom Roberts Art Exhibition. Tom Roberts Festival 2001, Inverell, 2001, 2. cat.no. 2
'Organisation of the New South Wales display in Chicago', pg. 18-45., Selling a nation: Australian artists at International Exhibitions [M.A., University of Sydney] 2001, 2001, between 24-25 (colour illus.), 25, 36-38, 52. fig.no. 9
'Theories and models of communication', pg. 1-25., Critical communication 2000, 2000, 2 (illus.).
Tim Bonyhady (b.1957) (Author), Andrew Sayers (Australia, b.1957) (Author), Heads of the people: a portrait of Colonial Australia, Parkes, 2000, 96 (illus.), 111 (illus.), 149.
Nicholas Thomas (Australia) (Author), Possessions: indigenous art / colonial culture, London, 1999, 91 (illus.), 122, 294. illus.no. 45
'Art and the Empire' by John M. Mackenzie, pg. 296-317., Cambridge Illustrated History of the British Empire 1996, 1996, 308 (illus.).
Ron Radford (Australia, b.1949) (Author), Humphrey McQueen (Author), Mary Eagle (Australia, b.1944) (Author), Virginia Spate (Australia) (Author), Daniel Thomas (Author), Jane Hylton (b.1950) (Author), Barry Pearce (Australia) (Author), Leigh Astbury (b.1950) (Author), Helen Topliss (Australia) (Author), Roger Butler (Australia, b.1948) (Author), Jane Hylton (b.1950) (Author), Tom Roberts, Adelaide, 1996, 64, 65 (colour illus.) 204 (illus.).
Eva Czernis-Ryl (Australia) (Author), Australian gold & silver 1851-1900, Haymarket, 1995.
Helen Topliss (Australia) (Author), Tom Roberts 1856-1931: a catalogue raisonné. Volume 2 - Plates, Melbourne, 1985, (illus.). plate no. 85
Helen Topliss (Australia) (Author), Tom Roberts 1856-1931: a catalogue raisonné. Volume 1 - Text, Melbourne, 1985, 123. cat.no. 183
Jane Clark (Australia) (Author), Bridget Whitelaw (Author), Golden summers: Heidelberg and beyond, Melbourne, 1985, 153 (colour illus.).
Helen Topliss (Australia) (Author), Tom Roberts 1856-1931: a catalogue raisonné. Volume 2 - Plates, Melbourne, 1985, (illus.). plate no. 85
Ian Donaldson (b.1935) (Editor), Tasmin Donaldson (b.1939) (Editor), Seeing the first Australians, North Sydney, 1985, 114, 115 (illus.), 116-117. plate no. 8.5
Virginia Spate (Australia) (Author), Tom Roberts, Melbourne, 1978, 12, 104, 105 (illus.), 148. illus.no. 32
Geoffrey Dutton (Australia, b.1922, d.1998) (Author), White on black: the Australian Aborigine portrayed in art, Melbourne, 1974, 59.
'Tom Roberts' by Daniel Thomas, pg. 466-487., Art Gallery of New South Wales Quarterly (Vol. 10, No. 4) Jul 1969, Jul 1969, 470 (illus.), 471.
Alan McCulloch (Australia, b.1907, d.1992) (Author), John Henshaw (New Zealand; Australia, b.1929, d.2006) (Editor), The golden age of Australian painting - Impressionism and the Heidelberg school, Melbourne, 1969, 60 (colour illus.), 158.
Bernard Smith (Australia, b.1916, d.2011) (Author), A catalogue of Australian oil paintings in the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1875-1952, Sydney, 1953, 175. titled 'Head of an Aboriginal'
National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Tom Roberts exhibition, National Art Gallery of NSW: souvenir catalogue, Sydney, 1947, 11. titled 'Head of an Aboriginal'; cat.no. 16
Robert Croll (Australia, b.1867, d.1947) (Author), Tom Roberts: father of Australian landscape painting, Melbourne, 1935, 208.
Australasian art review 01 Aug 1899, 01 Aug 1899, 23.
National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1899, Sydney, 1899, 51. titled 'Aboriginal Head'; cat.no. 287
Grafton Galleries (England) (Author), Exhibition of Australian art in London, London, 1898, 13. titled 'Aboriginal Head'; cat.no. 41
World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893: Catalogue of the exhibits in the New South Wales Courts, Sydney, 1893, 435, 442. titled 'Aboriginal Head'; cat.no. 11
National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1893, Sydney, 1893, 107. titled 'Aboriginal head'; cat.no. 373
The Sydney Morning Herald 02 Sep 1892, 02 Sep 1892, 2.
Royal Art Society of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1880) (Author), Art Society of New South Wales Spring Exhibition Catalogue, Sydney, 1892, 21. titled 'Aboriginal Head (Charlie Turner)'; cat.no. 78
National Art Gallery of New South Wales (Australia, estab. 1874) (Author), Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of New South Wales 1891, Sydney, 1891, Supplement. titled 'Aboriginal Head'
- Exhibition history (14)
-
Thirteenth Annual Exhibition of the Art Society of New South Wales (1892), Society Rooms, Union Chambers, 1892 -.
World's Columbian Exposition, 1893, Jackson Park, Chicago, 01 May 1893–30 Oct 1893.
Exhibition of Australian art in London (1898), Grafton Galleries, 02 Apr 1898–31 Jul 1898.
Tom Roberts - Retrospective Exhibition, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Nov 1947–Jan 1948.
Tom Roberts - Retrospective Exhibition, National Gallery of Victoria [Swanston Street], Nov 1947–Jan 1948.
Tom Roberts - Retrospective Exhibition, Art Gallery of South Australia, Nov 1947–Jan 1948.
Tom Roberts (1996-1997), Art Gallery of South Australia, 05 Oct 1996–17 Nov 1996.
Tom Roberts (1996-1997), Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 30 Nov 1996–27 Jan 1997.
Tom Roberts (1996-1997), National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], 12 Feb 1997–06 Apr 1997.
Tom Roberts (1996-1997), Art Gallery of New South Wales, 19 Apr 1997–01 Jun 1997.
Tom Roberts (1996-1997), Art Gallery of Western Australia, 11 Jun 1997–27 Jul 1997.
Tom Roberts Festival (2001), Inverell Art Gallery, 27 Apr 2001–06 May 2001.
Australian Impressionism, Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, 31 Mar 2007–08 Jul 2007.
Reframing Darwin: evolution and art in Australia (2009), The Ian Potter Museum of Art, 12 Aug 2009–01 Nov 2009.
