A Frost Piece

Thomas Roberts was the most accomplished Irish landscape painter of the 18th Century, however, comparatively little is known about him. His father was the distinguished Waterford architect John Roberts and the Field Marshall, Earl Roberts, was descended from an elder brother of Thomas. Thomas went though the Dublin Society Schools in 1763 and was then apprenticed to George Mullins. He made his first appearance as an exhibitor in 1766 sending three landscapes to the Dublin Society of Artists, from Mullin's house in Temple Bar, one of which gained for him the Society's Premium for the best landscape. Between 1766 and 1768 he exhibited ten landscapes, from the same address, and after he had moved to Shaw's Court, Dame Street, he continued to exhibit at the Dublin Society every year until his premature death, aged only thirty, in Lisbon. Despite the shortness of his life he gained a considerable reputation as an artist and among those who recognised his brilliance and became his patrons, were some of the most powerful and influential men in Ireland including Viscount Powerscourt, Viscount Cremorne, the Earl of Ross and the Duke of Leinster.

This picture shows the influence of 17th Century Dutch landscape painting on the artist. In particular Roberts seems to have assimilated the work of Italianate Dutch artists such as Jan Both and Jan Wyck.