View source for Norman Lindsay

{{Short description|Australian artist (1879–1969)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Use Australian English|date=July 2012}}
{{more citations needed|date=November 2022}}
{{Infobox artist
| bgcolour      = 
| name          = Norman Lindsay
| image         = Norman Lindsay 1920.jpg
| imagesize     = 
| caption       = Lindsay in 1921, photographed by [[Harold Cazneaux]]
| birth_name    = Norman Alfred William Lindsay
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1879|02|22|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Creswick, Victoria]], Australia
| death_date    = {{death date and age|1969|11|21|1879|02|22|df=y}}
| death_place   = [[Sydney]], [[New South Wales]], Australia
| field         = 
| training      = 
| movement      = 
| works         = 
| patrons       = 
| influenced by =
| influenced    =
| awards        = 
| spouse        = {{Plainlist|
* {{marriage |Kathleen Agatha Parkinson |1900 |1919 |end=div}}
* {{marriage |[[Rose Lindsay|Rose Soady]] |1920}}
}}
| children            = 5, including [[Jack Lindsay|Jack]] and [[Philip Lindsay|Philip]] 
| footnotes          = <ref>{{cite book|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lindsay-norman-alfred-7757 |title=Australian Dictionary of Biography |author=Bernard Smith |chapter=Lindsay, Norman Alfred (1879–1969) |volume=10 |date=1986 |access-date=2022-07-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lindsay-rose-13047 |title=Australian Dictionary of Biography |author=Ana Carden-Coyne |chapter=Lindsay, Rose (1885–1978) |series=Supplemental |date=2005 |access-date=2022-07-24}}</ref>
}}
'''Norman Alfred William Lindsay'''  (22 February 1879 – 21 November 1969) was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, art critic, novelist, cartoonist and amateur [[boxing|boxer]].<ref>"Norman was extremely interested in boxing and was himself an accomplished amateur. He kept a pair of gloves hanging on a nail behind his studio door and boxed whenever he could find a sparring partner. Nat, a male model and former professional boxer, gave Norman lessons in the studio.", Bloomfield, (1984), p.42.</ref> One of the most prolific and popular Australian artists of his generation, Lindsay attracted both acclaim and controversy for his works, many of which infused the Australian landscape with erotic [[paganism|pagan]] elements and were deemed by his critics to be "anti-Christian, anti-social and degenerate".<ref>Tully, Caroline (1992). ''The Pagan Lindsay''. ''Ostara''. GE Vol. XXV, 10. NO. 96, pp. 1–3.</ref> 

A vocal [[Australian nationalism|nationalist]], he became a regular artist for ''[[The Bulletin (Australian periodical)|The Bulletin]]'' at the height of its cultural influence, and advanced staunchly anti-[[modern art|modernist]] views as a leading writer on [[Australian art]]. When friend and literary critic [[Bertram Stevens (critic)|Bertram Stevens]] argued that children like to read about fairies rather than food, Lindsay wrote and illustrated ''[[The Magic Pudding]]'' (1918), now considered a classic work of Australian children's literature.

Apart from his creative output, Lindsay was known for his [[larrikin]] attitudes and personal [[libertine]] philosophy, as well as his battles with what he termed "[[wowser]]ism" (strict moral conservatism). One such battle is portrayed in the 1994 film ''[[Sirens (1994 film)|Sirens]]'', starring [[Sam Neill]] as Lindsay and filmed on location at Lindsay's home in the [[Blue Mountains (New South Wales)|Blue Mountains]], west of [[Sydney]]. It is now known as the [[Norman Lindsay Gallery and Museum]] and is maintained by the [[National Trust of Australia]].

==Early life==
[[File:Norman Lindsay and Rose Lindsay ca. 1920 photographer Harold Cazneaux A4219096r.jpg|thumb|Norman and Rose Lindsay {{Circa|1920}}, photographed by [[Harold Cazneaux]] ]]
Lindsay was born in [[Creswick, Victoria]], the son of Anglo-Irish surgeon Robert Charles William Alexander Lindsay (1843–1915) and Jane Elizabeth Lindsay (1848–1932), daughter of Rev. Thomas Williams, Wesleyen missionary, from Creswick. The fifth of ten children, he was the brother of [[Percy Lindsay]] (1870–1952), [[Lionel Lindsay]] (1874–1961), [[Ruby Lindsay]] (1885–1919), and [[Daryl Lindsay]] (1889–1976).

==Career==
[[File:Trumpetcallsa.jpg|thumb|Norman Lindsay, ''The trumpet calls'', 1914-1918, [[National Library of Australia]].]]

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 [[The Bulletin (Australian periodical)|Sydney Bulletin]], a weekly newspaper, magazine and review. His association there would last fifty years.

Lindsay travelled to Europe in 1909, Rose followed later. In Naples he began 100 pen-and-ink illustrations for [[Gaius Petronius|Petronius']] ''[[Satyricon]]''.<ref>[https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-satyricon-petronius/1116903211#productInfoTabs The Satyricon (Illustrated Edition)], Barnes & Noble, Retrieved 28 June 2017</ref> Visits to the then [[Victoria and Albert Museum|South Kensington Museum]] where he made sketches of model ships in the museum's collection stimulated a lifelong interest in ship models. The Lindsays returned to Australia in 1911.

Lindsay wrote the children's classic ''[[The Magic Pudding]]'' which was published in 1918.

Many of his novels have a frankness and vitality that matches his art. In 1930 he created a scandal when his novel ''[[Redheap]]'', supposedly based on his hometown, Creswick, was banned due to censorship laws.

In 1938, Lindsay published ''[[Age of Consent (novel)|Age of Consent]]'', which described the experience of a middle-aged painter on a trip to a rural area, who meets an adolescent girl who serves as his model, and then lover. The book, published in Britain, was banned in Australia until 1962.<ref name="Baxter2009">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/carnalknowledgeb00baxt|url-access=registration|title=Carnal Knowledge: Baxter's Concise Encyclopedia of Modern Sex|date=10 February 2009|publisher=HarperCollins|isbn=978-0-06-087434-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/carnalknowledgeb00baxt/page/4 4]|author=John Baxter|access-date=24 December 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Norman Lindsay - The Crucified Venus (1913).jpg|thumb|''The Crucified Venus'', 1912, the subject of a 1913 controversy at the Society of Artists exhibition in Melbourne.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article157821230 |title=Venus Crucified |newspaper=[[The National Advocate]] |location=New South Wales|date=20 September 1913 |access-date=1 July 2016 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>]]
[[File:Norman lindsay statue.jpg|thumb|240px|Statue of a nude at the Norman Lindsay gardens]]
Lindsay is widely regarded as one of Australia's greatest artists, producing a vast body of work in different media, including [[Pen Drawing|pen drawing]], [[etching]], [[watercolour]], [[Oil painting|oil]] and sculptures in concrete and [[bronze]]. Lindsay's creative output was vast, his energy enormous. Several eyewitness accounts tell of his working practices in the 1920s. He woke early and produced a watercolour before breakfast. By mid-morning, he would be in his etching studio where he worked until late afternoon. In the afternoon, he worked on a concrete sculpture in the garden. In the evening, he'd write a new chapter for whatever novel he was working on at the time.

As a break, he worked 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.

[[File:Lindsay help daddy.jpg|thumb|Cartoons such as this one, by Lindsay, were used both for recruitment and to promote conscription during [[World War I]].]]
Lindsay also worked as an editorial cartoonist, notable for often illustrating the racist and right-wing political leanings that dominated ''The Bulletin'' at that time; the "[[Red Scare|Red Menace]]" and "[[Yellow Peril]]" were popular themes in his cartoons. These attitudes occasionally spilled over into his other work, and modern editions of ''The Magic Pudding'' often omit one couplet in which "you unmitigated Jew" is used as an insult.

Lindsay was associated with a number of poets, such as [[Kenneth Slessor]], [[Francis Webb (poet)|Francis Webb]] and [[Hugh McCrae]], influencing them in part through a philosophical system outlined in his book ''Creative Effort''. He also illustrated the cover for the seminal [[Henry Lawson]] book, ''While the Billy Boils''. Lindsay's son, [[Jack Lindsay (writer)|Jack Lindsay]], emigrated to England, where he set up [[Fanfrolico Press]], which issued works illustrated by Lindsay.

Lindsay influenced numerous artists, notably the illustrators [[Roy Krenkel]] and [[Frank Frazetta]]; he was also good friends with [[Ernest Moffitt]].

== Reception ==
His frank and sumptuous nudes were highly controversial, and critics' evaluations vary considerably; in 1934 Basil Burdett called the women "fleshy strumpets"; English writer Hesketh Hubbard condemned a Lindsay exhibition in London in 1923 as "salacious"; Australian art critic [[Alan McCulloch (art critic)|Alan McCulloch]] at the time of Lindsay's death, called Lindsay's figures "galumphing";<ref>{{Cite news |last=Maslen |first=Geoff |date=18 April 1986 |title=Exposing Lindsay to a fitful market |pages=11 |work=The Age}}</ref><blockquote>To gain an instant local response (and perhaps an audience overseas?) he exaggerated grossly the erotic and sensational elements. The people he drew were always in shocking taste whether nude or clothed and his humor was the 'sick' humor of the Roman forum.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}</blockquote>Poet [[A. D. Hope|A.D. Hope]] in a book of Lindsay pencil drawings wrote that: <blockquote>These are faithful and loving studies of the model in which the breasts and thighs are as individual and eloquent as the faces, and every part of the body thinks, feels and speaks.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Lindsay, Norman |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/222975289 |title=Norman Lindsay : pencil drawings |date=1969 |publisher=Angus and Robertson |isbn=0-207-95217-5 |oclc=222975289}}</ref></blockquote>In 1940, Lindsay 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 [[book burning|burned]] as pornography by American officials. The artist's older brother Lionel remembered Lindsay's reaction: "Don't worry, I'll do more."<ref name="bio">{{cite web|url=http://www.normanlindsay.net/Biography.htm|title=Norman Lindsay Biography|publisher=ww.normanlindsay.com|access-date=9 March 2008}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=The current source is insufficiently reliable ([[WP:NOTRS]]).|date=August 2024}}

==Personal life==
Lindsay married Catherine (Kate) Agatha Parkinson, in [[Melbourne]] on 23 May 1900. Their son [[Jack Lindsay (writer)|Jack]] was born in Melbourne on 20 October 1900, followed by Raymond in 1903 and [[Philip Lindsay|Philip]] in 1906. They divorced in 1918. He later married [[Rose Lindsay|Rose Soady]] who was also his business manager, a most recognisable model, and the printer for most of his etchings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.normanlindsay.net/Biography2.htm|title=Norman Lindsay - Biography}}</ref>

They had two daughters: Jane Lindsay, born in 1920, and Helen Lindsay, born in 1921. Philip died in 1958 and Raymond in 1960. In the Lindsay tradition, Jack became a prolific publisher, writer, translator and activist.  Philip became a writer of historical novels, and worked for the film industry.

==Death==
Lindsay is buried in Springwood Cemetery in [[Springwood, New South Wales|Springwood]], close to [[Faulconbridge]] where he lived.

==Legacy==
A large body of his work is housed in his former home at [[Faulconbridge, New South Wales]], now the [[Norman Lindsay Gallery and Museum]], and many works reside in private and corporate collections. His art continues to climb in value today. In 2002, a record price was attained for his oil painting ''Spring's Innocence'', which sold to the [[National Gallery of Victoria]] for A$333,900.

== Fictional portrayals ==

===Film===
The first major screen adaptation of Lindsay's literary works was the 1953 British film ''[[Our Girl Friday]]'', based on his 1934 novel ''[[The Cautious Amorist]]''. The 1969 Australian-British co-production ''[[Age of Consent (film)|Age of Consent]]'', adapted from Lindsay's 1938 novel of the same name, was the last full-length feature film directed by [[Michael Powell]]{{#tag:ref|''[[The Boy Who Turned Yellow]]'' (1972) was made after this and is a bit too long at 55 minutes to be considered a short film, but is shorter than most feature films.|group=N}}, and starred [[James Mason]] and [[Helen Mirren]] in her first credited movie role.

In 1994, [[Sam Neill]] played a fictionalised version of Lindsay in [[John Duigan]]'s ''[[Sirens (1994 film)|Sirens]]'', set and filmed primarily at Lindsay's Faulconbridge home. The film is also notable as the movie debut of Australian supermodel [[Elle Macpherson]].

===Television===
In 1972 five novels were adapted for TV as part of the [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]]'s Norman Lindsay festival. These were ''Halfway to Anywhere'' (adapted by [[Cliff Green]]), ''Redheap'' (adapted by [[Eleanor Witcombe]]), ''A Curate in Bohemia ''(adapted by [[Michael Boddy]]), ''The Cousin from Fiji'' (adapted by [[Barbara Vernon (writer)|Barbara Vernon]]) and ''Dust or Polish'' (adapted by [[Peter Kenna]]).<ref name="lindsay">{{cite web|title= Filmography – Norman Lindsay |publisher= IMDb |url= https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0512284/ |access-date= 9 March 2008}}</ref>

Searches of the ABC's TARA Online television database,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abccontentsales.com.au/librarysales/databases/tara/default.htm |title=TARA Online |publisher=ABC Content Sales |access-date=27 June 2013}}</ref> and the collection database of the National Film & Sound Archive<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au/nfsa/search/search.w3p;adv=;query=;resCount= |title=NFSA - Easy Search |access-date=4 March 2009 |archive-date=20 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090520022512/http://colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au/nfsa/search/search.w3p;adv=;query=;resCount= |url-status=dead }}</ref> conducted in March 2009, failed to return any results for these programs. Regrettably, many videotaped ABC programs, series such as ''[[Certain Women (television series)|Certain Women]]'' and program segments from the late 1960s and early 1970s, were subsequently erased as part of an ill-considered economy drive. 

Although the closure of ABC Sydney's [[Gore Hill]] studio, uncovered considerable quantities of film and video footage long thought to have been lost, such as the complete ''[[The Aunty Jack Show]]'', the absence of any reference on the TARA or NFSA databases and the paucity of citations elsewhere, e.g. IMDb, suggest that the master recordings of the adaptations of the Norman Lindsay novels may no longer exist. The first broadcasts of these programs predated widespread domestic ownership of [[videocassette recorder]]s in Australia, so it is unlikely that any domestically recorded off-air copies exist either.

==Works==
[[File:Norman Lindsay Ephesian Matron.jpg|thumb|Illustration by Norman Lindsay for the "{{Interlanguage link|Ephesian Matron|la|3=Matrona Ephesia}}" episode in the ''[[Satyricon]]'']]

===Novels===
* ''[[A Curate in Bohemia (novel)|A Curate in Bohemia]]'' (1913)
* ''[[Redheap]]'' (1930) (published in the U.S. as ''Every Mother's Son'')
* ''Miracles by Arrangement'' (1932) (published in the U.S. as ''Mr. Gresham and Olympus'')
* ''[[Saturdee (novel)|Saturdee]]'' (1933)
* ''[[Pan in the Parlour]]'' (1933)
* ''[[The Cautious Amorist]]'' (1934) (first published in the U.S. in 1932); movie version: ''[[Our Girl Friday]]'' 1953
* ''[[Age of Consent (novel)|Age of Consent]]'' (1938); movie version: ''[[Age of Consent (film)|Age of Consent]]'' 1969
* ''[[The Cousin from Fiji]]'' (1945)
* ''[[Halfway to Anywhere]]'' (1947)
* ''[[Dust or Polish?]]'' (1950)
* ''Rooms and Houses'' (1968)

===Children's books===
* ''[[The Magic Pudding]]'' 1918
* ''The Flyaway Highway'' 1936

===Poetry book===
* illustrations in Francis Webb ''A Drum for Ben Boyd'' Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1948

===Other===
* ''Creative Effort: An essay in affirmation'' 1924
* ''The Etchings of Norman Lindsay'' 1927, London, Constable & Co.
* ''Hyperborea: Two Fantastic Travel Essays'' 1928
* ''Madam Life's Lovers: A Human Narrative Embodying a Philosophy of the Artist in Dialogue Form'' 1929, London, Fanfrolico Press
* ''The scribblings of an idle mind'' 1956
* ''Norman Lindsay: Pencil Drawings'' 1969, Angus & Robertson, Sydney
* ''Norman Lindsay's pen drawings'' 1974

===Autobiographical===
* ''Bohemians of the Bulletin'' 1965
* ''My Mask'' (autobiography) 1970

===Books about Norman Lindsay===
* John Hetherington, ''Writers and Their Work: Norman Lindsay'', 1962, Melbourne: Lansdowne Press.
* [[Rose Lindsay]], ''Model Wife: My Life with Norman Lindsay'', 1967, Sydney: Ure Smith.
* Jane Lindsay, ''A Portrait of Pa'', 1975, Sydney: Angus & Robertson.
* [[Douglas Stewart (poet)|Douglas Stewart]], ''Norman Lindsay: A Personal Memoir'', 1975

==See also==
{{Portal|Children's literature}}
* [[Kenneth G. Ross]]: author of the musical play ''Norman Lindsay and his Push in Bohemia'' (1978)
* [[Norman Lindsay Gallery and Museum]]
* [[Margaret Coen]]

==References==

===Notes===
{{Reflist|group=N}}

===References===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
{{Refbegin}}
* Bloomfield, L., ''Norman Lindsay: Impulse to Draw'', Bay Books, (Sydney), 1984. {{ISBN|0858355558}}
* Hetherington, J., ''Norman Lindsay: The Embattled Olympian'', [[Oxford University Press]], (Melbourne), 1973.
* Wingrove. K. (ed.), ''Norman Lindsay on Art, Life and Literature'', [[University of Queensland Press]], (St. Lucia), 1990.
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Norman Lindsay}}
{{wikiquote}}
* [http://www.normanlindsay.com.au Norman Lindsay Gallery]
* [http://www.normanlindsay.net The Norman Lindsay Website] – facsimile etchings and books
* [http://www.normanlindsay.net/Biography.htm Lionel's account]
* [http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/ Norman Lindsay] at the [[National Library of Australia]], 
* {{Gutenberg author |id=1588| name=Norman Lindsay}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Norman Alfred William Lindsay}}
* {{Librivox author |id=2364}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928003635/http://www.australianart.com.au/artists.php?ID=102 Norman Lindsay at Australian Art]
* [http://www.nla.gov.au/openpublish/index.php/jasal/article/view/51/50 Joanna Mendelssohn 'Norman Lindsay's ''The Cousin from Fiji'' and the Lindsay Family Papers' JASAL 4 (2005)]
* {{cite web | url = http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/lindsay_norman | title = Lindsay, Norman | access-date = 9 October 2015 | author = Silas Clifford-Smith | date = 2008 | work = Dictionary of Sydney | publisher = Dictionary of Sydney Trust}}<nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Creative Commons license|CC-By-SA]]<nowiki>]</nowiki>
* {{LCAuth|n50051943|Norman Lindsay|65|ue}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindsay, Norman}}
[[Category:Norman Lindsay| ]]
[[Category:1879 births]]
[[Category:1969 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian novelists]]
[[Category:Australian cartoonists]]
[[Category:Australian children's writers]]
[[Category:Australian male novelists]]
[[Category:Australian watercolourists]]
[[Category:Modern artists]]
[[Category:People from the Blue Mountains (New South Wales)]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian painters]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian male artists]]
[[Category:Australian bibliophiles]]
[[Category:Lindsay family|Norman]]
[[Category:People from Creswick, Victoria]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian sculptors]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian male writers]]
[[Category:Australian etchers]]
[[Category:Australian art critics]]
[[Category:Australian propagandists]]
[[Category:Australian male painters]]
[[Category:Australian people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:Australian people of English descent]]