19 Facts About Norman Lindsay

Norman Alfred William Lindsay was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, art critic, novelist, cartoonist and amateur boxer.

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 pagan elements and were deemed by his critics to be "anti-Christian, anti-social and degenerate".

When friend and literary critic Bertram Stevens argued that children like to read about fairies rather than food, Norman Lindsay wrote and illustrated The Magic Pudding, now considered a classic work of Australian children's literature.

Apart from his creative output, Norman Lindsay was known for his larrikin attitudes and personal libertine philosophy, as well as his battles with what he termed "wowserism".

One such battle is portrayed in the 1994 film Sirens, starring Sam Neill as Norman Lindsay and filmed on location at Norman Lindsay's home in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.

In 1895, Norman Lindsay moved to Melbourne to work on a local magazine with his older brother Lionel.

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

In 1938, Norman Lindsay published 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.

Norman 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.

Norman Lindsay woke early and produced a watercolour before breakfast.

Norman Lindsay 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.

Norman Lindsay 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 Menace" and "Yellow Peril" were popular themes in his cartoons.

Norman Lindsay was associated with a number of poets, such as Kenneth Slessor, Francis Webb and Hugh McCrae, influencing them in part through a philosophical system outlined in his book Creative Effort.

Norman Lindsay illustrated the cover for the seminal Henry Lawson book, While the Billy Boils.

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

In 1940, Norman Lindsay took sixteen crates of paintings, drawings and etchings to the US to protect them from the war.

Norman Lindsay married Catherine Agatha Parkinson, in Melbourne on 23 May 1900.

Norman Lindsay later married Rose Soady who was his business manager, a most recognisable model, and the printer for most of his etchings.

Norman Lindsay is buried in Springwood Cemetery in Springwood, close to Faulconbridge where he lived.