‘Like walking into Tutankhamun’s tomb’: Hidden Norman Lindsay archive unearthed

Researchers at Sydney University’s Fisher Library have unearthed a treasure trove of work by artist Norman Lindsay that had lain undiscovered in the collection for decades.

“It was like [archaeologist] Howard Carter walking into Tutankhamun’s tomb,” says art historian and Lindsay expert Robert Holden, who along with Rodney Kent unearthed the collection of sketches, etchings, letters and other ephemera. “I’m not really exaggerating. I was stunned.”

The material, which also includes the draft of an unfinished novel, had been given to the library by the late Harry Chaplin but not fully catalogued. Now on exhibition at Fisher Library, the haul came to light when Holden and Kent set about compiling a comprehensive bibliography of Lindsay’s work.

Robert Holden inspects some of the newly discovered material.Credit: Steven Siewert

Holden is particularly excited about more than 100 letters, written in Lindsay’s own hand, that have emerged. They include correspondence with many major figures of the day, including legendary soprano Nellie Melba.

“The letters are, to my mind, one of the most important aspects of it because you’re getting Norman’s own words in his own handwriting,” he says. “Most of them are handwritten to a wide variety of people all across Australia. He was a tremendous correspondent.”

Lindsay, who died in 1969, was famously hardworking and prolific in almost every field of artistic endeavour – from writing to painting, and sculpture to etchings.

Norman Lindsay teaches granddaughter Helen Glad to draw in the late 1950s.Credit: Robert Pearce

“He said, ‘A third of your life is spent in sleep, a third in work and a third in entertainment’,” says Holden. “He said he cut out nearly all the entertainment part and some of the sleep, and in that way was able to double the amount of time available for writing and painting. And I think that kind of sums up his whole life’s philosophy and his attitude to his work.”

A man of firm opinions, Lindsay was also no stranger to controversy, both during and after his lifetime. In particular, his fascination with themes of paganism and erotica and rejection of societal convention brought him great notoriety.

“I just wish people who don’t like the subject matter would look beyond the nudes and see the sheer technical expertise, particularly in the etchings and watercolours,” says Holden, who is planning a new biography of Lindsay based on the new material. “He was an absolute master.”

Then there were the persistent stories of bohemian excesses at his Springwood home in the Blue Mountains, which Holden discounts.

“People thought he was having it off wildly with the nude models up at Springwood,” Holden says. “That’s just rubbish. He wasn’t physically strong enough to probably do it and, anyway, Rose his wife would have smacked him senseless.”

Norman Lindsay: Censored to Celebrated is on now at the University of Sydney’s Fisher Library.