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• Auction House:
  Mossgreen
• Sale Name:
  The Estate of Suzanne Cecil
• Sale Date:
  15 May 2016 ~ 2.30pm
• Lot #:
  3
• Lot Description:
  Norman Lindsay
  (1879-1969)
  Polite Conversation 1942
  oil on board
  58.5 x 48 cm
  signed and dated lower right: Norman Lindsay 42
• Provenance:
  Mr Elliot Aldridge, Adelaide; Christie’s, Australian Paintings, Melbourne, 11 March 1971; Ms Elsie Dennett, Melbourne; Thence by descent
• References:
  Michael Shannon, ‘The Art Collectors 6: Elliot Aldridge’, in Art and Australia, Vol. 5, No. 3, December 1967, (illustrated)
• Notes:
  At the beginning of the 20th century Norman Lindsay as a painter, draughtsman, etcher, builder of model ships and writer, was a polymath artist of technical brilliance, and also one of the most controversial figures in Australia. He took a stance in his art and writing against what he regarded as ‘wowserism’ (i.e. puritanism in society). Seeing himself as a bohemian he developed his own belief in the 'vitalist' and romantic role of the artist. This affirmed creative inspiration as the meaning of life while celebrating energy, beauty, sexuality and play. In opposing the accepted religious attitudes, morality and conventions of the middle-class, Lindsay sought to embrace an Arcadian pantheism in drawings, watercolours, etchings and paintings, depicting an extended costume party of voluptuous naked women, swashbuckling pirates and other fantasies; many looking back to the ancient world of Greece and Rome, others to literary classics or to the 18th century Italian and French courts, and even an amalgamation of all. The painting Polite Conversation 1942 presents an 18th century garden party of extravagance, gaiety and spectacle reminiscent of a scene from a period movie. In this respect Norman Lindsay probably drew inspiration from the burgeoning film industry of the 20s, 30s and 40s involving epic films of classical and biblical themes by directors such as Cecil B. DeMille, which certainly appear to have coincided with his interests. Jeanette Hoorn has noted in relation to Lindsay’s predilection for epic fantasy, that his art is ‘concerned with display, excess and wonderment. The interest of early cinema in combining humour and drama is an aspect which is central to much of Lindsay’s art’.1 Lindsay, as a member of one of Australia’s significant art dynasties, started his career with a series of drawings illustrating The Decameron, a collection of stories of sexual escapades written in the 14th century by the Italian scholar and poet Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375). He then continued to focus on drawings. etchings and watercolours in a prometheum output with increasing notoriety for its scandalous content. While he produced a small number of oil paintings early in his career, it was not until the late 1930s that he began to paint constantly, producing a number of medium and large scale ‘gallery’ works with the virtuoso skill for which his oeuvre is noted. In the oils of this period Lindsay continued to portray themes of fêtes, pageants and classical romps including a cast of characters with pirates, Don Juan characters and courtiers among other male figures, whose swagger and fashionable attire serves to highlight by contrast the voluptuous bodies of the female protagonists in various stages of undress. This is the case in Polite Conversation 1942 where nudity is presented as natural in a convivial gathering of individuals drinking tea and conversing courteously. Frances Lindsay AM 1 Jeanette Hoorn, ‘Olympian bodies and cinematic spectacle in the art of Norman Lindsay’, Art and Australia, Vol 38, No 1, Sept-Nov 2000
• Estimate:
  A$35,000 - 45,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Art

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.