CANBERRA.- Tom Roberts’ portrait of his good friend, the painter and etcher Louis Abrahams, has recently been acquired by the National Gallery of Australia and will feature in the summer blockbuster exhibition Tom Roberts, opening on 4 December in Canberra.
Painted in Melbourne in 1886 the canvas has remained in the Abrahams family until it was recently offered for sale by Christie’s London.

This is the only known portrait that Roberts painted of his close friend, although he did include him, a year earlier, with his back to the viewer in the NGA’s superb landscape A quiet day on Darebin creek 1885, and as the central figure earnestly frying eggs in The artists camp 1886; both of these paintings are also included in the exhibition.

Two years later Roberts painted a portrait of Mrs Abrahams. Roberts was a witness at their wedding, and painted the accompanying portrait of Mrs Abrahams as a wedding present.

‘The painting’s rapid, free brushwork displays the strong influence of modern French art to which he was exposed during the time he spent in the Parisian studios shortly before returning to Melbourne in 1885. European portrait painters who were most influential on Roberts’ development include Manet and Whistler,’ said Dr Anna Gray, Curator of Tom Roberts.

Abrahams was a lifelong friend of Roberts. They met and studied together at art school and continued to paint together until Abrahams was persuaded to give up painting to take over his family’s very successful importing business. Their friendship continued with Abrahams playing a pivotal role in the seminal 9 by 5 Impressions exhibition by providing the cigar box-lids that many of the artists painted on. The box-lids measured 9 inches by 5 inches and have become synonymous with the Australian Impressionist movement—this was Australia’s first ever exhibition of “radical art”.

‘Tom Roberts was Australia’s pre-eminent portrait painter in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This arresting and important work greatly enhances the NGA’s collection of Roberts’ portraits,’ said NGA Director, Gerard Vaughan. ‘We would not have been able to purchase this painting without the support of generous donors, who will be announced when the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, officially opens the exhibition in early December.’

Tom Roberts opens on 4 December until 28 March 2016.