Golda Abrahams was the wife of Louis Abrahams, who was a friend of Roberts and McCubbin. Roberts painted this portrait as a wedding present for the couple.

What makes a great portrait? Perhaps when it generates enduring interest in the subject’s character – and what a layering of possibilities there is in Tom Roberts’s painting of Lily Stirling.

Australian composer Marshall Hall was an advocate for Australian Impressionist art and an admirer of Arthur Streeton, buying several of his works. Streeton returned the compliment with this searching portrait.

Tom Roberts’ painting Allegro Con Brio (fast with brightness) celebrates the vigour and confidence of the time and can be read as an accurate portrayal of 19th century Melbourne street life.

In Tom Roberts's painting The artists' camp, we join the artists at Box Hill as the shadows lengthen.

Amid the natural beauty of the bush in McCubbin's painting Lost we see the seriousness of the woman’s plight dawn on her: the landscape doesn’t care whether she lives or dies.

In 1888, Charles Conder painted with friend and fellow artist Tom Roberts at Coogee, Sydney. On the green hill over-looking the bay, they worked side by side.

In Charles Conder’s painting An early taste for literature, the milk pale has over-turned and a wandering cow munches on a magazine. Conder’s emphasis is the particular rather than the general.

Terence Lane, curator of Australian Impressionism (NGV Australia 2007), introduces the themes explored in the exhibition.

Coming South documents the migrant experience with almost photographic realism. As such, it is Tom Roberts’s first exploration of one of the enduring themes of Australian history.