Norman Lindsay’s erotic art often depicted voluptuous nudes and pagan images. While his artwork attracted both wide acclaim and fierce criticism so did his literary works.
“Age of Consent”, Lindsay’s 1938 novel about a middle-aged painter and his adolescent model who becomes his lover, remained banned in Australia until 1962. But in 1969 the film version was released starring James Mason and Helen Mirren in her first major movie role.
A glimpse into the controversy surrounding Lindsay is portrayed in the 1994 film “Sirens”, written and directed by John Duigan. In “Sirens” Sam Neill plays Lindsay and famous Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson makes her movie debut. “Sirens” also brought British actor Hugh Grant, who plays the priest, to the notice of American audiences.
Norman Lindsay Art
By The Music Box, May 16, 2015
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 was 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).
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, and many works reside in private and corporate collections. His art continues to climb in value today.
Source: The Music Box
