Title
An autumn morning, Milson's Point, Sydney
1888
Artist
-
Details
- Place where the work was made
-
Milsons Point
→
Sydney
→
New South Wales
→
Australia
- Date
- 1888
- Media category
- Painting
- Materials used
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 45.7 x 76.2 cm stretcher; 65.3 x 96.0 x 5.0 cm frame
- Signature & date
Signed and dated l.l. corner, red/brown oil "Tom Roberts/ Sydney 88".
- Credit
- Purchased 1983
- Location
- South Building, ground level, Grand Courts
- Accession number
- 27.1983
- Copyright
- Artist information
-
Tom Roberts
Works in the collection
- Share
-
About
Roberts painted 'An autumn morning, Milson's Point' during a visit to Sydney in early 1888. The painting depicts the northern shores of the harbour that were only accessible by ferry at this time. A contemporary reviewer attributed the murky colour of the air to the pollution as a result of burning coal. Later, Roberts himself lived and painted in this area whilst staying in Mosman at Curlew Camp, Sirius Cove, during the early 1890s.
Whilst in Sydney, Roberts met Charles Conder and the two became friends, painting together at Coogee beach. 'Holiday sketch at Coogee', by Roberts, is a celebration of the white sand and blue water of this popular promenade and bathing site, especially the intensity of Sydney sunlight. Roberts' time in Sydney proved extremely influential on the young artist, and Conder followed him to Melbourne later that year to join the group of artist friends at Heidelberg.
-
Places
Where the work was made
Milsons Point
-
Exhibition history
Shown in 11 exhibitions
Victorian Artists Society Autumn Exhibition (1888), National Gallery of Victoria [Swanston Street], Melbourne, May 1888–1888
Sotheby's: Australian and European paintings and Oriental ceramics and works of art, The Regent Hotel, Melbourne, 23 Mar 1983 -
A century of Australian landscape painting: mood and moment, Peking Art Gallery, Beijing, Oct 1983–Dec 1983
A century of Australian landscape painting: mood and moment, Shanghai Art Gallery, Shanghai, Oct 1983–Dec 1983
Golden Summers - Heidelberg and beyond, National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], Melbourne, 30 Oct 1985–27 Jan 1986
Golden Summers - Heidelberg and beyond, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 21 Feb 1986–20 Apr 1986
Golden Summers - Heidelberg and beyond, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 09 May 1986–29 Jun 1986
Golden Summers - Heidelberg and beyond, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 30 Jul 1986–14 Sep 1986
Two hundred years of Australian painting : Nature, people and art in the southern continent, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo, Japan, 28 Apr 1992–28 Jun 1992
Two hundred years of Australian painting : Nature, people and art in the southern continent, The National Museum of Modern Art, Kyoto, Kyoto, 14 Jul 1992–06 Sep 1992
Tom Roberts (1996-1997), Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, 05 Oct 1996–17 Nov 1996
Tom Roberts (1996-1997), Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, 30 Nov 1996–27 Jan 1997
Tom Roberts (1996-1997), National Gallery of Victoria [St Kilda Road], Melbourne, 12 Feb 1997–06 Apr 1997
Tom Roberts (1996-1997), Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 19 Apr 1997–01 Jun 1997
Tom Roberts (1996-1997), Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, 11 Jun 1997–27 Jul 1997
Australian icons: twenty artists from the collection, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 04 Aug 2000–03 Dec 2000
Sydney by ferry, Museum of Sydney, Sydney, 13 Apr 2002–04 Aug 2002
Australian Impressionism, Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, Melbourne, 31 Mar 2007–08 Jul 2007
Tom Roberts Retrospective, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, 04 Dec 2015–28 Mar 2016
Grand Courts collection rehang, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Nov 2021–2023
-
Bibliography
Referenced in 31 publications
-
Leigh Astbury, Sunlight and shadow: Australian impressionist painters 1880-1900, Rushcutters Bay, 1989, 34.
-
Okko Boer, Masters of the Heidelberg School, Leichhardt, 1998, 10 (colour illus.). plate no. 6
-
Maurice Brodzky (Editor), Table talk, Melbourne, 27 Apr 1888, 2.
-
Rex Butler (Editor), Radical revisionism: an anthology of writings on Australian art, 'Tom Roberts: "Where the sun never set"', pg. 163-174, Brisbane, 2005, 168-169.
-
Edmund Capon AM, OBE and Jan Meek (Editors), Portrait of a Gallery, Sydney, 1984, frontispiece (colour illus.).
-
Jane Clark and Bridget Whitelaw, Golden summers: Heidelberg and beyond, Melbourne, 1985, 95 (colour illus.).
-
our Lady correspondent, The West Australian, 'Melbourne gossip.', pg. 3, Perth, 29 May 1888, 3.
-
Mary Eagle, Australian Impressionism, 'Friendly Rivalry: Paintings of Waterside Sydney, 1888 and 1890', pg. 103-108, Melbourne, 2007, 147, 106, 108, 322, 112 (colour illus.). cat.no. 6.4
-
Anna Gray, Tom Roberts, 'Harmonic arrangements: Tom Roberts' painting' Anne Gray, pg. 31-60, Canberra, 2015, 42, 43, 160 (colour illus.), 161, 349. cat.no. 34
-
David Iggulden, The house by the bay: a history of 'Berowra' A.D. 1888, London, 2001, 50-51 (colour illus.), 53-54. illus.no. 9
-
Patrick H McCarthy, Bailed up: the story behind the painting, Sydney, 2006, 60.
-
John McDonald, Art of Australia. Vol 1: Exploration to Federation, ‘Our hill of gold’, pg. 419-484, Sydney, 2008, 446 (colour illus.), 447.
-
Humphrey McQueen, Art Monthly Australia, 'Positions vacant', pg. 21-23, Canberra, Sep 2000, 21.
-
Humphrey McQueen, Tom Roberts, Sydney, 1996, 242.
-
Bryce Moore, The Voyage out: sea travel to Australia, 1829-1921, Fremantle, 1991, 1 (colour illus.).
-
John Neylon, Jane Hylton and Tracey Lock, Tom Roberts: Education guide, Adelaide, 1996, colour illus..
-
Barry Pearce, A century of Australian landscape: mood and moment, Sydney, 1983, cover (colour illus.), 14, 33 (colour illus.). cat.no. 16
-
Barry Pearce and Haruo Arikawa, Two hundred years of Australian painting: nature, people and art in the southern continent, Tokyo, 1992, 89 (colour illus.). cat.no. 44
-
Barry Pearce, Charles Conder 1868-1909, 'Between worlds: Conder in Australia', pg. 12-31, Sydney, 2003, 21.
-
Charles Pickett, Observer & observed: a pictorial history of Sydney Observatory and Observatory Hill, 'Observer & observed: a pictorial history', pg. 8-94, Sydney, 2001, 54 (colour illus.), 55.
-
John Saxby (Editor), Look, 'The art that made me: Kevin Connor', pg. 12-13, Sydney, May 2016, 13 (colour illus.).
-
Sotheby's Australia, Catalogue of Australian and European paintings and Oriental ceramics and works of art, 'The property of a gentleman: An autumn morning, Milson's Point, Sydney', pg. 39, Melbourne, Mar 1983, 38 (colour illus.), 39. lot no. 54
-
Virginia Spate, Tom Roberts, 'Where The Sun Never Set. Tom Roberts and the British Empire', pg. 62, Adelaide, 1996, 74, 75 (colour illus.) 199 (illus.).
-
Jill Sykes, Look, ‘Barry Pearce’s next book-call it “segueing with intent”’, pg. 28-29, Sydney, Mar 2012, 28.
-
Nicola Teffer, Rosie Nice and Caroline Mackaness (Curators), Sydney by ferry, Sydney, 2002, 7.
-
Martin Terry, Maritime paintings of early Australia 1788-1900, 'The 1890s', pg. 90-104, Carlton South, 1998, 90-91 (colour illus.). plate no. 57
-
Helen Topliss, Tom Roberts 1856-1931: a catalogue raisonné. Volume 2 - Plates, Melbourne, 1985, 103 (colour illus.). plate no. 45
-
Vivienne Webb, Australian art: in the Art Gallery of New South Wales, 'Golden age', pg. 37-38, Sydney, 2000, 58 (colour illus., detail), 59 (colour illus.), 302.
-
A.L. Windsor (Editor), Age, Melbourne, 20 Apr 1888, 6.
-
Editor Unknown (Editor), Argus, Melbourne, 30 Apr 1888, 11.
-
Author Unknown, Victorian Artists Society Catalogue of Autumn Exhibition 1888, Melbourne, May 1888, 14. cat.no. 87
-