Art Around the World World Art    

Lesson 26: Bailed Up

by Tom Roberts

Directions

Study the artwork for one week.

Over the week:

• Examine the artwork.
• Read the synopsis.
• Study the vocabulary words.
• Recite the artist and artwork names.
• Read about the art region or artist.
• Complete the enrichment activities.
• Discuss the review questions.

Synopsis

Tom Roberts' 'Bailed Up' shows Australian bushrangers holding up a stage coach. A hill climbs high in the background, making it private and closed in, a good place for an ambush. The ground is brown and dusty. A fallen log blocks the road, probably positioned by the bushrangers. Roberts modeled the painting location on a real place in Australia. Roberts based the characters on real people he saw in the area. It took Roberts over twenty years to sell the painting. No one wanted it. Today, a former curator of the Australian museum hosting the painting called it, 'the greatest Australian landscape ever painted.'

Vocabulary

Bushrangers: An outlaw living in the bush.
Bush (Australian/African): Wild or uncultivated country.
Stage Coach: A large, closed horse-drawn vehicle formerly used to carry passengers and often mail along a regular route between two places.
Ambush: A surprise attack by people lying in wait in a concealed position.
Curator: A keeper or custodian of a museum or other collection.
Landscape: A picture representing an area of countryside.

Concepts

1. Australian artist Tom Roberts was born in 1856 in Dorchester, Dorset, England. See his picture below.

2. Zoom in and find Roberts' country of birth (UK) on the map below.

3. Roberts migrated to from England to Australia with his family when he was a boy. Find Australia on the map below.

4. As an adult, Roberts worked as a photographer's assistant while perfecting his art at night. He moved back to England to study art for three years and visited Spain and France.
5. Roberts returned to Australia, married, and had a son. He both painted and made picture frames to earn a living.
6. Roberts died in Australia in 1931 at the age of 64.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Can You Find It?

Find the following in the artwork:

• Stage Coach
• Stage Coach Driver
• Outlaws
• Luggage
• Stage Coach Passengers
• Hub and Spoke Wheels
• Luggage
• Guns
• Hill
• Woods
• Tree Blocking the Road

Activity 2: Narrate the Artwork

• After studying the artwork, narrate the scene shown aloud using your own words.

Activity 3: Complete Vocabulary Activities

• While studying the new words, point out any you see in the painting.
• Define each of the vocabulary words in your own words.

Activity 4: Color the Artwork   

• Click the crayon above, and complete page 41 of 'Art History Coloring Pages for Second Grade.'

Review

Question 1

Who are the characters in the artwork?

1 / 4

Answer 1

The characters are the bushrangers, the stage coach driver, and the stage coach passengers.

1 / 4

Question 2

What is the setting of the artwork?

2 / 4

Answer 2

The setting is a remote, hilly, wooded area of Australia.

2 / 4

Question 3

What do the bushrangers want from the people in the stagecoach?

3 / 4

Answer 3

The bushrangers want to steal money or valuables such as jewelry from the people in the stage coach.

3 / 4

Question 4

What strategies did the bushrangers use to trap the stagecoach?

4 / 4

Answer 4

The bushrangers picked a hilly area for the ambush and blocked the road with a tree, preventing escape.

4 / 4

❮ ❯

1. Who are the characters in the artwork? The characters are the bushrangers, the stage coach driver, and the stage coach passengers.
2. What is the setting of the artwork? The setting is a remote, hilly, wooded area of Australia.
3. What do the bushrangers want from the people in the stagecoach? The bushrangers want to steal money or valuables such as jewelry from the people in the stage coach.
4. What strategies did the bushrangers use to trap the stagecoach? The bushrangers picked a hilly area for the ambush and blocked the road with a tree, preventing escape.

References

'Tom Roberts.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.

'Bailed Up.' Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org. n.p.