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Plain headstone for complex man

For the amount of acclaim and controversy that Norman Lindsay's life created, his headstone is very simple by comparison. All it says is:


In Memory of

(the artist)

Norman Lindsay

1879 - 1969


Norman Lindsay's simple headstone at Springwood cemetery. Courtesy Findagrave


The economic transcription belies the contribution Lindsay made to the Australian art world.


Born Norman Alfred William Lindsay on 22 February, 1879 to surgeon Robert and Jane (nee Williams), daughter of Reverend Thomas Williams, a Wesleyan missionary in Creswick, Victoria, he was the fifth of 10 children.


The boys, including Norman, were all encouraged in their interest in art by their grandfather Thomas, who would take them to the Ballarat Fine Arts Gallery where Norman was inspired by Solomon J. Solomon's Ajax and Cassandra.


Due to a blood disorder that resulted in a rash if he over-exerted himself as a young child, his mother would keep him indoors, which gave him time to teach himself to draw by copying illustrations from periodicals. His first paid job in 1895 was on a magazine called the Hawklet with his brother, Lionel, where he was given 10 shillings to do ghost drawings. He eventually became a cartoonist in his own right.


Norman would go on to lead a bohemian life where he lived in rented rooms with his brother and friends, attending theatres, music halls and prize fights. He moved to a gardener's cottage in Charterisville, near Heidelberg and drew much of nature, inspired by the gardens around him. He was reading widely and became heavily influenced by Nietzsche's The Antichrist and Contra Wagner.


Norman Lindsay. Courtesy National Portrait Gallery.


Norman's philosophies developed and strengthened his rejection of Christianity and the Puritan values of his mother, who he believed restricted his childhood freedoms.


In 1899, along with journalist friend, Ray Parkinson and financial help from John Elkington, Norman established The Rambler, a weekly magazine devoted to theatre gossip, verse and illustrated jokes. It, however, failed after a few issues.


He married Ray's sister, Kathleen in May, 1900 then a year later, Norman joined the staff of the Bulletin periodical, with who he would be associated with for the next 50 years. As his career prospered, his marriage deteriorated and despite having three sons, their relationship soon ended.


Meanwhile, Norman and Frank Fox (later Sir) established Lone Hand in 1907, a monthly publication devoted to literature and art. This is where Norman contributed many of his drawings, stories and critical articles.


A trip to London saw his health fail and it was suspected he had tuberculosis. His new love, young model, Rose Soady, and also his business manager, organised for them to move to the Blue Mountains. Springwood which would become their permanent home. It was a sandstone cottage surrounded by 42 acres of bushland and it became an artistic haven.


The Magic Pudding written by Norman Lindsay


During World War One he was illustrating for the Bulletin, but as a distraction he wrote The Magic Pudding, for children. During this time a number of sad tragedies took place in his life, starting with the death of his brother, Reginald, at the Somme. Rose's pregnancy resulted in a stillborn child and her near death and in 1919, Norman's sister Ruby died of influenza.


Across the art world, he was either loved or hated. There were attempts to stop his art works being shown at a large exhibition of Australian art at the Royal Academy, London in 1923. The attempts failed and his work attracted large crowds. As far as the critics were concerned, his technique was praised but his subject matter, not so much. This was because his work included an infusion of Australian landscape with erotic pagan elements that was seen as anti-Christian, anti-social and degenerate.


He continued his scandalous ways writing Redheap, in 1930, apparently based on his hometown, but was banned due to censorship laws. This was followed in 1938 with Age of Consent, a story about a middle-aged painter on a trip to a rural area, who meets an adolescent girl. She becomes his model and later his lover. His book was banned in Australia until 1962.


Norman produced a vast amount of work over his lifetime and is seen as one of Australia's greatest artists. It makes the simplicity of his headstone at Springwood cemetery more meaningful.


References


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