Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Norman Lindsay (1879 – 1969)

Norman Lindsay - The Dream, 1923The Dream, 1923

Norman Lindsay - Enter the magicians, 1927Enter the magicians, 1927

Norman Lindsay - Tom O'Bedlam, 1918Tom O'Bedlam, 1918

Norman Lindsay - Walpurgis, 1924Walpurgis, 1924

Norman Lindsay - To the Festival, 1934To the Festival, 1934

Norman Lindsay - Moonlight's Piper, 1925Moonlight's Piper, 1925

Norman Lindsay - Visitors to HellVisitors to Hell

Norman Lindsay - Adventure, 1921Adventure, 1921

Norman Lindsay - Self-portrait, 1930Self-portrait, 1930

Norman Lindsay - Little Witch, 1937Little Witch, 1937

Norman Lindsay - The Sphinxs Secret, 1931The Sphinx's Secret, 1931

Norman Lindsay - Adolescence, 1923Adolescence, 1923

Norman Lindsay - The Innocents, 1925The Innocents, 1925

Norman Lindsay - The Pursuit, 1920The Pursuit, 1920

Norman Lindsay - Debut, 1920Debut, 1920

Norman Lindsay - Powers of Earth, 1927Powers of Earth, 1927

Norman Lindsay - The Sorcerer's Servants 1960The Sorcerer's Servants, 1960

Norman Lindsay - Capriccio, 1932Capriccio, 1932

Norman Lindsay - A Star Explodes, 1932A Star Explodes, 1932

Norman Lindsay - The Funeral March Of Don Juan, 1924The Funeral March Of Don Juan, 1924

Norman Lindsay - Allegro Vivace 8th Symphony (B. 269), 1925Allegro Vivace 8th Symphony (B. 269), 1925

Norman Lindsay - The Sphinx, 1920The Sphinx, 1920

Norman Lindsay - InvocationInvocation

Norman Lindsay - Gathering of the Shades, 1917.jpgGathering of the Shades, 1917

Norman Lindsay - The Dragon Slayer, 1945The Dragon Slayer, 1945

Norman Lindsay - Strange Lands, 1932Strange Lands, 1932

Norman Lindsay - Goodnight, 1920Goodnight, 1920

Norman Lindsay - Strange SeasStrange Seas

Norman Lindsay - Don Juan in Hell, 1918Don Juan in Hell, 1918

Norman Lindsay - Thieves’ Kitchen, 1929Thieves’ Kitchen, 1929

Norman Lindsay - Tom O'Bedlam, 1918Tom O'Bedlam, 1918

Norman Lindsay - VanquishedVanquished

Norman Lindsay - The Wowser's Retinue, 1932The Wowser's Retinue, 1932

Norman Lindsay - Venus In Arcady, 1938Venus In Arcady, 1938

Norman Lindsay - Sea MagicSea Magic

Norman Lindsay - Bacchanalian Revels, 1940Bacchanalian Revels, 1940

Norman Lindsay - Devils & Witches: Witches Dance, 1923Devils & Witches: Witches Dance, 1923

Norman Lindsay - The Audience, 1925The Audience, 1925

Norman Lindsay - The Witches Sabbath, 1917The Witches Sabbath, 1917

Norman Lindsay - The Entourage, 1940The Entourage, 1940

Norman Lindsay - Bargains, 1927Bargains, 1927

Norman Lindsay - Reflections, 1919Reflections, 1919

Norman Lindsay - The Grey-Eyed Girl, 1913The Grey-Eyed Girl, 1913

Norman Lindsay - Witches and WarlocksWitches and Warlocks

Norman Lindsay - Enigma, 1919Enigma, 1919

Norman Lindsay - Illustration from Colombine, published 1920 by Angus and Robertson in SydneyIllustration from Colombine, published 1920 by Angus and Robertson in Sydney

Norman Lindsay - My Ancestors, 1904My Ancestors, 1904

Norman Lindsay - Treasure, 1925Treasure, 1925

Norman Lindsay - Quest, 1913Quest, 1913

Norman Lindsay - Tam O'ShanterTam O'Shanter

Norman Lindsay - Odysseus, 1925Odysseus, 1925

Norman Lindsay - Unknown Seas, 1922Unknown Seas, 1922

Norman Lindsay - Desert IslandDesert Island

"Norman Alfred William Lindsay (22 February 1879 – 21 November 1969) was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, editorial cartoonist, scale modeler, and an accomplished amateur boxer. He was born in Creswick, Victoria.

 Lindsay is widely regarded as one of Australia's greatest artists, producing a vast body of work in different media, including pen drawing, etching, watercolour, oil and sculptures in concrete and bronze. A large body of his work is housed in his former home at Faulconbridge, New South Wales, now the Norman Lindsay Gallery and Museum.

In 1895, Lindsay moved to Melbourne to work on a local magazine with his older brother Lionel. His Melbourne experiences are described in Rooms and Houses. In 1901, he and Lionel joined the staff of the Sydney Bulletin, a weekly newspaper, magazine and review. His association there would last fifty years. Lindsay wrote the children's classic The Magic Pudding published in 1918 and created a scandal when his novel Redheap (supposedly based on his hometown, Creswick) was banned due to censorship laws. Many of his novels have a frankness and vitality that matches his art.

His frank and sumptuous nudes were highly controversial. In 1940, Soady took sixteen crates of paintings, drawings and etchings to the U.S. to protect them from the war. Unfortunately, they were discovered when the train they were on caught fire and were impounded and subsequently burned as pornography by American officials. Soady's older brother Lionel remembers Lindsay's reaction: "Don't worry, I'll do more."

Lindsay's creative output was vast, his energy enormous. Several eyewitness accounts tell of his working practices in the 1920s. He would wake early and produce a watercolour before breakfast, then by mid-morning he would be in his etching studio where he would work until late afternoon. He would work on a concrete sculpture in the garden during the afternoon and in the evening write a new chapter for whatever novel he was working on at the time.

As a break, he would work on a model ship some days. He was highly inventive, melting down the lead casings of oil paint tubes to use for the figures on his model ships, made a large easel using a door, carved and decorated furniture, designed and built chairs, created garden planters, Roman columns and built his own additions to the Faulconbridge property.

In 1994 Sam Neill played a fictionalised version of Lindsay in John Duigan's Sirens, set and filmed primarily at Lindsay's Faulconbridge home. "

- selected quotations taken from a biography on the artist at Wikipedia. 

A video tour of Lindsay's home and studio can be found here.



Image sources include Deutscher and Hackett, National Gallery of Victoria, Australian Art Sales Digest, Sotheby's Australia, and Book Graphics.

2 comments:

Li-An said...

Such a great artist. Thanks for sharing - I always regret I had not enough money to buy his etchings book.

1914 said...

What an amazing post. This is such a great blog.
Imagine , 16 crates of paintings , burned by Yank officials. Just absurd.
Probably his best stuff, too.
Sounds like he took it on the chin, but I'm sure that hurt a lot.