ROBERTS, TOM (1856-1931)

**PRICE ON APPLICATION**
 
"Portrait Of Annie Peirson" (c.1890)
oil on canvas, laid on board
52 x 41.5cm
*private collection, Tasmania
*Sotheby's, November 2006 (No.59)
*Christie's, November 1998 (No.136)
*Masterpiece Fine Art, Tasmania
*Pierson/Grant-Hay Family, thence by descent
*authenticated by Dr Helen Topliss
 
Roberts is a famous Australian Impressionist. He was a leading figure & had a profound impact on the Heidelberg School, a group of more than 20 Australian impressionist painters who used impressionistic techniques & promoted painting outdoors or en plein air that flourished from around the 1880’s to early 1900’s. Roberts artwork displayed his feelings of ‘nationalism’ especially in the portraiture & outback paintings he produced, he saw these themes as a defining characteristic of modern Australian art. His artworks are noted for its tonal techniques of portraying the uniquely Australian light. Roberts travelled extensively & visited many remote outback stations, he visited Brocklesby station in the Riverina where he painted ‘Shearing the Rams’, which came to be considered the definitive image of an emerging national identity. In 1901 Roberts was commissioned to paint a vast representation of the opening in Melbourne of the first Federal Parliament of Australia “The Big Picture” completing the work in England in 1903. His works are iconic, & commonplace in all major National & Regional Collections!!
 
This impressive portrait depicts Annie Marion Peirson (nee Hendrickson) (1872-1957). Peirson was a student of the National Gallery School. The painting was passed to her sister, Christina, & passed down her family; the influential Grant-Hay family, known brewers, pastoralists & horse breeders. It was authenticated by Dr Helen Topliss, who produced Roberts' Catalogue Raisonné in 1985.