An anonymous donor has gifted previously unknown works by famed Australian artist Tom Roberts to the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery.
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QVMAG is displaying the works until March 1, 2020 as part of an exhibition entitled Tom Roberts: A Tale of Three Loves.
Roberts, who was born in 1856 and died in 1931, was a leading member of the Heidelberg school of Australian impressionist painters, who sought to capture the nature of pre-federation life.
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The artist came to Australia from England with his mother and two siblings in 1869. He was a frequent visitor to Tasmania and became enamoured with the landscape here. He met his first wife Lillie in Launceston.
"[Roberts has] always had this big connection to Tasmania, either through love or through painting," QVMAG visual arts and design senior curator Ashleigh Whatling said.
"We've really got works here that will add to the way we see Tom Roberts and his practice in Tasmania.
"And also they're just beautiful works that we can add to the collection."
Some of Roberts most famous paintings include Shearing the Rams (1890), showing sheep shearers at work, and The Big Picture (1903), which depicted the opening of the first Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia.
The recently uncovered works by Roberts will undergo treatment at the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation at the University of Melbourne after being displayed at QVMAG.
The restored paintings will then be returned to QVMAG's visual arts and design collection.
"The reason that we put them [on display] now is that I actually think the transformation is going to be pretty spectacular," Ms Whatling said.
In QVMAG's textile and fashion collection is an old lace bolero that belonged to Roberts' wife Lillie, donated to the museum by a surviving family member.
It was recently brought to Ms Whatling's attention through an audit of QVMAG's collection.
"I actually find this a really immediate work," Ms Whatling said. "I think with works of art you sometimes don't feel the interpersonal connection with the artist."
"Whereas with this, [Roberts] would have hugged [Lillie] wearing that."
Rob Inglis
Rob Inglis is a reporter with The Examiner, covering state and federal politics. He is based in Hobart.
Rob Inglis is a reporter with The Examiner, covering state and federal politics. He is based in Hobart.
