Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

National Treasures – Tom Roberts’s ‘Bailed Up’ (2004)

play
clip
  • 1
Tom Roberts's 'Bailed Up' education content clip 1

This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

With its revolutionary approach to depicting the landscape and light, Tom Roberts’s Bailed Up is a painting that helped define Australia’s national identity.

Curator’s notes

by Digital Resource Writers

Tom Roberts was one of the ‘Heidelberg School’ of Australian artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

These painters introduced a ‘plein air’ (open air) style to depicting the Australian bush, using impressionist principles to capture the light, colour and atmosphere of the Australian bush landscape and sky.

The school was closely tied to an emerging Australian nationalism, which saw the acceptance of Australian scenes and people as suitable subjects for art.

Other members of the ‘school’ included Arthur Streeton, Charles Conder, Frederick Mc Cubbin, David Davies, Jane Sutherland and Walter Withers.

There are many examples of Heidelberg School works in Australian art galleries.

Teacher’s notes

developed for NFSA digital learning NFSA digital learning

Classroom Activities

  1. What does Bailed Up depict?
  2. When was it painted?
  3. What changes did the painter make to it?
  4. Why would he have made those changes?
  5. The painting is a representation of bushrangers. Analyse the representation – what does it show? What attitudes and values are shown? Who are we meant to sympathise with? How does the artist direct us in this way? What is the message of the painting about bushrangers?
  6. Is this a true image? Compare it to other images of bushrangers.
  7. This painting is about ‘outlaws’. But what does the word ‘outlaw’ mean, and what variations are there within the word?
  8. The word literally means ‘one excluded from the benefits and security of the law’. But there is a range of meanings within that definition. Look at this list, and match the appropriate definition to each.
    • Bandit
    • Bushranger
    • Highwayman
    • Criminal
    • Rebel
    • Revolutionary
    • Freedom fighter
    • Terrorist
    • One who fights against the rule of his or her country by an illegitimate ruling group or a foreign power
    • One who uses violence to achieve political change
    • One who tries to overthrow and replace the existing system
    • An armed robber
    • An Australian term for a robber who operated in the bush
    • One who opposes existing authority or controls
    • A person who habitually or regularly commits crimes
    • British term for a robber, particularly one on horseback who robbed travellers.
  9. Some of these words are neutral in their meaning, others involve a judgement. Place each of these eight ‘outlaw’ words on this scale, from the worst type of outlaw to the best. For example, you might decide that a criminal might be close to the worst, because their actions harm others but are done just for their own benefit.
  10. The different words used to describe outlaws raise the question: Were bushrangers romantic heroes, or were they villains? Brainstorm your idea about heroes.
  11. From your brainstorm, work out the criteria you would apply to decide how you would judge bushrangers.
  12. Research the lives of two Australian bushrangers and prepare an argument either for or against their classification as 'heroes’ or 'villains’, making sure that you apply your criteria in your judgement. Present your argument to the class.

The Heidelberg School

  1. The Heidelberg painters are described as a ‘school’. What does that mean?
  2. Describe the key characteristics of Bailed Up. Consider such elements as:
    • Light
    • Colour
    • Theme
    • Message
    • Style.
  3. Look at other examples of this style and school. Go to the Australian Government’s Australian Stories page on the Heidelberg School. Decide which of the characteristics or features you described for Roberts are common to the ‘school’.
  4. Research one of the painters of the Heidelberg School further, and prepare a report on him or her.