Coming South is a 1886 painting by the Australian artist Tom Roberts. The painting depicts migrants coming to Australia from Europe aboard a steamship. Roberts based the painting on sketches he had made when returning to Australia aboard the SS Lusitania in 1885 after four years abroad in Europe.[1]
Historian Humphrey McQueen describes Coming South as one of Roberts' seven best-known paintings.[2] The National Gallery of Victoria describes it as "a definitive image of the migrant experience" and "Roberts's first exploration of one of the great themes of Australian life".[3]
The painting was acquired by the National Gallery of Victoria in 1967.[3]