An Impressionist (Tom Roberts)

This lively and evocative portrait of Roberts by his friend Charles Conder is a rare work produced during the artist's brief Australian years (1884–90). Roberts is depicted in a relaxed and characteristic pose, on a modernist scale. The playful zig-zagged background – based on a surveyor's chain, referring to the young artist's early employment in Sydney – prefigures Conder's decorative style, characteristic of his later European work, as well as echoing the cover of the 9 by 5 exhibition catalogue which he designed.