9 by 5 Impression Exhibition

Portrait by Arthur Streeton of Louis Abrahams smoking a cigar. Abrahams, a tobacconist, supplied the artists with wooden cigar-box lids for painting impressions. Many of the lids measured 9 by 5 inches, hence the name of the exhibition.

The 9 by 5 Impression Exhibition was an art exhibition in Melbourne, Australia. The exhibition was opened on 17 August 1889 in Buxton's Rooms on Swanston Street and featured 183 works; the majority of which were painted by the Australian impressionists Tom Roberts, Charles Conder and Arthur Streeton. The exhibition was named for the dimensions of most of the paintings— 9 by 5 inches (23 cm × 13 cm), the size of a cigar box lid upon which many of the works were painted— and the Impressionist inspiration for the works.

The exhibition created much lively commentary at the time and is now seen as a "celebrated event in Australian art history". 9 by 5s continue to appear on the market; in 2009, Conder's Centennial Choir at Sorrento (cat. 151) sold at Sotheby's for A$492,000. In 2012, to mark the 123rd anniversary of the exhibition, arts benefactor Max Carter donated four 9 by 5s (valued at over A$3,000,000) to the Art Gallery of South Australia, the largest group of 9 by 5s ever given to an Australian public institution.

Gallery of 9 by 5s

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  Charles Conder, All on a summer's day, 1888, National Gallery of Australia
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  Charles Conder, An Impressionist (Tom Roberts), 1889, Art Gallery of New South Wales
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  Charles Conder, Arcadia, 1889, private collection
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  Charles Conder, Centennial Choir at Sorrento, 1889, private collection
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  Charles Conder, Dandenongs from Heidelberg, 1889, Art Gallery of South Australia
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  Charles Conder, Going Home, 1889, National Gallery of Australia
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  Charles Conder, Herrick's Blossoms, 1888, National Gallery of Australia
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  Charles Conder, How We Lost Poor Flossie, 1889, Art Gallery of South Australia
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  Charles Conder, Impressionists' camp, 1889, National Gallery of Australia
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  Charles Conder, Riddell's Creek, 1889, National Gallery of Australia
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  Tom Roberts, Across the Dandenongs, 1889, National Gallery of Victoria
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  Tom Roberts, Andante, 1889, Art Gallery of South Australia
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  Tom Roberts, By the Treasury, 1889, National Gallery of Victoria
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  Tom Roberts, Evening train to Hawthorn, 1889, Art Gallery of New South Wales
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  Tom Roberts, First Tram, 1889, private collection
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  Tom Roberts, Fog, Thames Embankment, 1884, Art Gallery of New South Wales
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  Tom Roberts, Going Home, 1889, National Gallery of Australia
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  Tom Roberts, Harper's Weekly, 1889, National Gallery of Victoria
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  Tom Roberts, Mentone, 1889, National Gallery of Victoria
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  Tom Roberts, The violin lesson, 1889, National Gallery of Victoria
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  Arthur Streeton, Brander's Ferry, 1889, private collection
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  Arthur Streeton, Evening game, 1889, private collection
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  Arthur Streeton, Hoddle Street to Junction, 1889, National Gallery of Australia
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  Arthur Streeton, Impression for ′Golden Summer′, 1888, Benalla Art Gallery
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  Arthur Streeton, The National Game, 1889, Art Gallery of New South Wales
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  Arthur Streeton, Orange, blue and white, 1889, Art Gallery of South Australia
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  Arthur Streeton, Pastoral in yellow and grey- a colour impression of Templestowe, 1889, National Gallery of Australia
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  Arthur Streeton Princess & Burke & Wills, 1889, National Gallery of Victoria
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  Arthur Streeton, Residence of J. Walker, Esq., Gembrook, 1888, National Gallery of Victoria
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  Arthur Streeton, Sandridge, 1888, National Gallery of Australia
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  Arthur Streeton, Windy and Wet, 1889, National Gallery of Victoria

External links

• Exhibition catalogue, designed by Charles Conder
• 9 by 5 exhibition at the Heidelberg Artists Society