Roberts was once again exposed to this ominous fear of radical behavior four years after the completion of Shearing the Rams when he traveled to Newstead North Shearing Shed in northern New South Wales (“About Tom Roberts”). Here he composed The Golden Fleece (1894), also entitled Shearing at Newstead. Just as his painting of Shearing the Rams coincided with the Shearers’ Strike of 1891, ironically The Golden Fleece did the same with the Strike of 1894 (City Bushmen 112). Based on Roberts’ past partiality to the working man’s cause, it is not surprising that this painting sadly evidences the continuing decline of the shearing occupation and the difficulties it was facing. Instead of a line of shearers marking the focal point of the painting as in Shearing the Rams, here there is only an empty void reaching down the middle of the isle, all the way to the very back of the shed. The men are positioned leaning over, busily working on either side of the gap, giving the impression of a much emptier and much more divided space, perhaps alluding to the continuing conflicts between the union and non-union workers.
Despite these continuing conflicts, the foreman, whose forward and prominent position was earlier so important earlier in Shearing the Rams, has now been moved to the rear of the painting. Although this alteration in location may seem to entirely refute Roberts’ previously established opinions on the controlling aspect of the foreman’s occupation, the move actually continues the trend. True, the man is now in the background, but he is still easily distinguishable by his comparatively nicer clothing and, more importantly, by the fact that he is the only figure standing amongst the line of hunched-over shearers. Roberts has configured the painting so that every working man’s position supplements the stance of the foreman, both in height and direction. The large gap which divides the shed draws the viewer’s attention directly to him, automatically placing him in a position of power; a power which both intimidated the workers and fueled their desire to fight for a better life.
Through all of this, however, the image of “strong masculine labor” which had previously been so apparent amongst Roberts’ paintings is quite diminished in The Golden Fleece; even the title suggests a shift in emphasis from the labor to the product. Later on that year, Roberts would create his final sheep country painting, Shearing Shed, Newstead (1894). It, however, diverges even farther from the labor image, showing only the outside of the shearing shed, and including not a single worker. Instead, a monotonous herd of undefined sheep graze within in a small enclosure. Whether or not this shift in focus is representative of Roberts’ own personal views or of the entire country’s, it is unclear. But based on the artist’s previously undying commitment to the illustration of the working man’s hardship and the labor movement, it is doubtful that he would have chosen to alter his ways.
Images:
Roberts, Tom. The Golden Fleece (Shearing at Newstead). Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney.
Roberts, Tom. Shearing Shed, Newstead. Private Collection.