Norman Lindsay (1879-1969), artist, cartoonist, and writer, came from a family that produced five artists. Lindsay left home when he was sixteen to live with his brother in Melbourne. In 1901 he moved north to make his permanent home in the Blue Mountains, working for the Bulletin in an association that lasted almost to his death. His first novel was published in 1913, and by the 1920s he was both proficient and prolific in pen and ink drawing, etching, woodcuts, painting and sculpture. Lindsay loathed Christianity, and his art depicts Bohemianism and Arcadian pantheism madly admixed in a fantasy world. As early as 1904 his work was deemed blasphemous; in 1930 his novel Redheap was banned and the following year the police proceeded against an issue of Art and Australia that showcased his art. Lindsay's work remains popular with collectors, and his cheerfully violent story The Magic Pudding (1918) retains its status as a classic of Australian children's literature.
Gift of Richard King 2008. Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program.
Richard King (16 portraits)
On one level The Companion talks about the most famous and frontline Australians, but on another it tells us about ourselves.
Harold Cazneaux's portraits of influential Sydneysiders included Margaret Preston and Ethel Turner, both important figures in the development of ideas about Australian identity and culture.
Offering portraiture in all its flavours: painting, photography, drawing, textiles, printmaking and sculpture, this exhibition is a feast for minds and eyes.
