Theme 9 by 5 Impression Exhibition

The 1989 9 by 5 Impressions exhibition established Roberts and his friends reputations as innovators and created their identity as a group – of Australian Impressionists – or impressions-ists. Before the exhibition opened the Table Talk art critic Sophie Osmond remarked:

‘Now … the public will have the opportunity of judging for itself what Impressionism really is ... The three principals of the movement are Mr Tom Roberts, Mr Charles Conder and Mr Arthur Streeton … are generally considered to be the leaders of Impressionism here, while Fred McCubbin may possibly be added as a fourth…’

In the small catalogue produced by the artists they explained their interests and aims. ‘An effect is only momentary; so an impressionist tries to find his place. Two half hours are never alike, and he who tries to paint the sunset on two successive evenings, must be more or less working from memory. So in these works, it has been the object of the artist to render faithfully, and thus obtain first records of effects that widely differing, and often of very fleeting character.’

The 9 by 5 Impression exhibition opened on 17 August 1889 at Buxton’s Art Gallery in Swanston Street, Melbourne. Roberts, Charles Conder and Arthur Streeton contributed the majority of paintings and C.D. Richardson sculpture.

The opening created a stir in Melbourne. The rooms were decorated in an aesthetic style, with draperies of soft Liberty silk, Japanese umbrellas, blue and green vases filled with japonica and roses, violets and jonquils, and the air was sweet with the perfume of daphne. The artists wanted to convey momentary impressions of colour and light, fleeting atmospheric effects and the transient moods of nature.

Following Whistler’s example, most of works were shown in simple wooden standardised frames. The exhibition’s title referred to the size of the wooden panels they painted on, which were nine by five inches (23 x 12.5 cm). Many were painted on cigar-box lids provided by Roberts’ friend Louis Abrahams, whose family imported cigars.