Lindsay, Norman

Norman Lindsay, in full Norman Alfred William Lindsay, (born Feb. 23, 1879, Creswick, Victoria, Australia—died Nov. 21, 1969, Springwood, New South Wales), Australian artist and novelist especially known for his political cartoons and sensual book illustrations.

At 16 Lindsay began to draw for a Melbourne newspaper, and in 1901 he moved to New South Wales. He was for many years the chief cartoonist of the Sydney Bulletin. His major characteristics of imaginative power, grim strength, and a certain coarseness of style are apparent in his illustrations for editions of the works of Theocritus, Giovanni Boccaccio, Giovanni Giacomo Casanova, Gaius Petronius Arbiter, and François Rabelais and for his own novel The Cautious Amorist (1932). Mainly done in an Art Nouveau manner, the erotic nature of these illustrations was considered scandalous in Australia, as was his first novel Redheap (1931), which was banned. Among other published works are Saturdee (1933), Pan in the Parlour (1934), Age of Consent (1938), and The Cousin from Fiji (1945). He was joint founder of the Endeavour press.