In 1881 he returned to England to study at the Royal Academy , where he came under the influence of the art of Bastien-Lepage . In 1883 during a walking tour of Spain he acquired some knowledge of Impressionism , and when he returned to Melbourne in 1885 he gathered several other painters about him and founded what came to be known as the Heidelberg School . In 1903 he left for England, and did not return permanently to Australia until 1923. Apart from landscapes, Roberts also painted portraits and genre scenes, particularly of Australian rural life. He was largely responsible for introducing Impressionism to Australia and his work is regarded as beginning the growth of an indigenous school of Australian art.
Examples are in many Australian galleries.
The Bloomsbury Guide to Art 2. The Bloomsbury Guide to Art 3. The Oxford Dictionary of Art 4. The Oxford Dictionary of Art 5. All rights reserved.