Australian Literature Week 4

[jennibeans]

b) Write a detailed description of the painting you enjoyed most.
I admit first to being a bit of a history nerd
I think that's why works like Tom Roberts' "Bailed Up" appeal to me. I felt that this work had a sense of history embedded in it. I like the way the bush rangers are depicted as the main participants in the image. I felt this subverted

Comments

[w8n4jc]

Jenni,

Wow, you have done an excellent job at describing the detail in this image by Tom Roberts and you have also managed to examine the scene, figures, light, colors and characters. I enjoy that you mention the steep mountain they are on is almost like a cage trapping the characters. That was something I picked up as well. I also enjoy that you said the light around that horse carriage is acting like a spot light highlighting the actions of the characters.

One thing that I though when looking at the image and the year Roberts painted this image was the fact that the people and the carriage seem ‘out of place’ in the bush land surrounding them. Their clothes suggest they are in a cold climate, but the bush is suggesting its warm because of the golden light and land that surrounds them. This reminds me of the poem we looked at in the first week of this semester by William Carlos William, 1823. His poem ends with the line ‘A NEW BRITANNIA IN ANOTHER WORLD”. This artwork by Tom Roberts paints an image of the British in a new / another world. Even William’s poem by saying “ANOTHER WORLD” suggests the sense of being ‘out of place’. Even the carriage is a symbol of an entity that’s changes, like a moving forward by the Europeans. Also I see the carriage as a symbol of destruction. Maybe because of the urbanized world we live in. But I think the carriage can be interpreted as the beginning of destruction.

Have a great week.

Arbella.