Tom Roberts, RCA, 1909-1998

Early Spring Foliage | Tom Roberts

Early Spring Foliage | Tom Roberts

Early Spring Foliage
Watercolour on paper
Size: 12 x 16 inches
Price: $500

Details: Signed lower left. Titled and signed on verso in pencil.
Framed measurements: approx. 20 X 24 inches.
Provenance: Private Collection, B.C.; Park Gallery gallery label on verso
Condition: Excellent.

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Scotch Bonnet Island Lighthouse | Tom Roberts

Scotch Bonnet Island Lighthouse | Tom Roberts

Scotch Bonnet Island Lighthouse, circa 1970
Oil on Masonite
Size: 16 x 22 inches
Price: $1,500

Details: Signed lower left.
Framed (period frame) measurements: approx. 22 X 28 inches.
Provenance: By descent to the current Ontario owner; Art Gallery of Hamilton art rental program
Condition: Very Good.

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Autumn Colour, Credit River | Tom Roberts

Autumn Colour, Credit River | Tom Roberts

Autumn Colour, Credit River, 1980
Oil on Masonite
Size: 10 x 16 inches
Price: SOLD

Details: Signed lower left. Signed and titled on verso.
Framed measurements: approx. 17 X 23 inches.
Provenance: Private Collection, Nova Scotia; Galerie d'art Michel Bigue
Condition: Excellent.

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McMaster Lake | Tom Roberts

McMaster Lake | Tom Roberts

McMaster Lake
Oil on Masonite
Size: 16 x 20 inches
Price: $2,000

Details: Signed lower left. Signed and titled on verso. Artist label on verso.
Framed measurements: approx. 22 X 28 inches.
Provenance: Private Collection, Ontario; T. Eaton Galleries.
Condition: Excellent.

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Sunny Morning, Peggy’s Cove | Tom Roberts

Sunny Morning, Peggy’s Cove | Tom Roberts

Sunny Morning, Peggy's Cove
Oil on Masonite
Size: 16 x 24 inches
Price: $2,200

Details: Signed lower left. Wallack Galleries label on verso.
Framed measurements: 22 X 30 inches.
Provenance: Private Collection, United States; Wallack Galleries.
Condition: Excellent.

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Stream in Spring | Tom Roberts

Stream in Spring | Tom Roberts

Stream in Spring
Oil on Masonite
Size: 20 x 16 inches
Price: $1,400

Details: Signed lower left. Titled on Wallack Galleries label on verso
Framed measurements: 27 X 23 inches.
Provenance: Private Collection, USA; Wallack Galleries.
Condition: Excellent.

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The Snowman | Tom Roberts

The Snowman | Tom Roberts

The Snowman
Oil on Masonite
Size: 16 x 20 inches
Price: SOLD

Details: Signed lower left. Tom Roberts artist label and T. Eaton Galleries label on verso.
Framed measurements: 22 X 26 inches.
Provenance: Private Collection, Ontario; T. Eatons Galleries stock #9672.
Condition: Excellent.

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East of White River | Tom Roberts

East of White River | Tom Roberts

East of White River
Oil on Masonite
Size: 22 x 32 inches
Price: SOLD

Details: Signed lower left. Tom Roberts label on back of frame.
Framed measurements: 30 X 40 inches.
Provenance: Private Collection, Ontario; T. Eaton Galleries (with label & original sales receipt).
Condition: Excellent.

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Fishing at Caledon | Tom Roberts

Fishing at Caledon | Tom Roberts

Fishing at Caledon, 1969
Oil on Masonite
Size: 12 x 16 inches
Price: SOLD

Details: Signed lower left. Signed & titled on verso.
Framed measurements: 22 X 28 inches.
Provenance: Private Collection, USA; Wallack Galleries.
Condition: Excellent.

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Saskatchewan Sky | Tom Roberts

Saskatchewan Sky | Tom Roberts

Saskatchewan Sky
Oil on Masonite
Size: 16 x 26 inches
Price: SOLD

Details: Signed lower left.
Framed measurements: 24 X 34 inches.
Provenance: Private Collection, Ontario; Wallack Galleries.
Condition: Excellent.

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Untitled – Birch trees | Tom Roberts

Untitled – Birch trees | Tom Roberts

Untitled (Birch trees)
Oil on Masonite
Size: 12 x 18 inches
Price: SOLD

Details: Signed lower left.
Framed measurements: 20 X 26 inches; original frame.
Provenance: Private Collection, Ontario.
Condition: Excellent.

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Untitled | Tom Roberts

Untitled | Tom Roberts

Untitled
Oil on Masonite
Size: 12 x 16 inches
Price: SOLD

Details: Possibly painted at Credit River, Mississauga
Signed lower left
Framed measurements: approximately 18 X 22 inches
Provenance: Private Collection, Ontario
Condition: Excellent.

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Bow River, Alberta | Tom Roberts

Bow River, Alberta | Tom Roberts

Bow River, Alberta.
Oil on Masonite
Size: 12 x 18 inches
Price: SOLD

Details: Signed lower left. Titled on Artist label on verso
Framed measurements: 20 X 26 inches; original frame.
Provenance: Private Collection, Ontario; Eaton's Art Gallery (label on verso).
Condition: Excellent.

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Credit River at Inglewood | Tom Roberts

Credit River at Inglewood | Tom Roberts

Credit River at Inglewood
Oil on Masonite
Size: 18 x 24 inches
Price: SOLD

Details: Signed lower left.
Framed measurements: 24 X 30 inches; original frame.
Provenance: Private Collection, Ontario; Roberts Gallery (label on verso)
Condition: Excellent.

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Algonquin Beaver Pond | Tom Roberts

Algonquin Beaver Pond | Tom Roberts

Algonquin Beaver Pond, circa 1960s
Oil on Masonite
Size: 16 x 20 inches
Price: SOLD

Details: Rare Thomas Keith Roberts painting of Algonquin Park.
Signed lower left. Original artist label on verso, T. Eaton Co. label on verso.
Framed measurements: approximately 22 X 26 inches; original frame.
Provenance: Private Collection, Nova Scotia; T. Eaton Co. Fine Art Galleries
Condition: Excellent.

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Tom Roberts is one of Canada’s most popular Post Second World War landscape artists.

 

Biography

Thomas Keith Roberts was born with art in his blood.

Tom Roberts’ mother, Frieda Humme, was an artist, as was her father, Julius Humme, who was an original member of the Ontario Society of Artists.

Tom Roberts’ grandfather on his father’s side was Samuel Roberts, who founded Toronto’s famous Roberts Art Gallery in 1842 (the gallery is still in operation). Tom’s father, Percy, later ran the gallery.

From early boyhood, Tom Roberts spent considerable time at the gallery and had early ambitions of becoming an artist.

Famous Art Teachers

Later, Tom Roberts studied art at Toronto’s Central Technical School under Peter Haworth, Charles Goldhammer, Robert Ross and Carl Schaeffer. That was followed by studies at the Ontario College of Art under F.S. Challener, J.W. Beatty, Yvonne McKague Housser and Fred Haines.

By 1928, Tom Roberts was established as a freelance artist in the fields of commercial and fine art. He painted landscapes on the spot, mainly out-of-doors, which were selected for Christmas cards by several companies.

Tom Roberts did his easel painting in watercolours, oils and later acrylics, for his varied subject matter of northern landscapes, town and country scenes in Ontario and subjects in Quebec and the Maritimes. He also did interiors and experimental painting.

Group of Seven Influence

Tom Roberts’ influences were derived from French Impressionists, the Group of Seven and J.W. Beatty in particular, who had preceded the Group of Seven in the discovery of Northern Ontario for subject matter. J.W. Beatty inspired his students to use a brighter palette – something clearly seen in Tom Roberts’ works.

During the Second World War, Tom Roberts served with the Royal Canadian Engineers assigned to architectural drafting. After a year, he was able to return to civilian life and resume his career as a full-time artist.

Most important are Tom Roberts’ oils, in especial those of the Petawawa River and the beautiful surrounding countryside. These show a freedom in Roberts’ brush work, an increasing breadth of style, a newly vigorous color.

Frequent Exhibitions

Over the years, Tom Roberts moved towards simpler designs and abstracted compositions. His rural scenes were enriched with children on their way to and from school – seen in the Road to the Village — or at play in all seasons.

Tom Roberts’ unpeopled rural scenes were painted on locations across Canada but often in Ontario. He is well known for his winding woodland roads edged with maple, birch, spruce and pine. Tom Roberts’ autumn scenes in particular are filled with vibrant colours.

By the mid 1980’s, Tom Roberts had held over thirty one-man shows in Toronto alone. He was a long-time member of the Ontario Society of Artists (joined 1944) and a Member of the Royal Canadian Academy (joined 1945).

His work, which spanned some five decades, is held in numerous public, corporate and private collections.

Source: A Dictionary of Canadian Artists, volumes 1-8 by Colin S. MacDonald, and volume 9 (online only), by Anne Newlands and Judith Parker. National Gallery of Canada, Artists in Canada database.