Pictures

NORMAN ALFRED WILLIAM LINDSAY (Australian, 1879-1969) FANFROLICO, c.1924 Signed, watercolour and pencil 64.5 x 59cm Provenance: London, The Leicester Galleries, 1926, no.48 (label on backboard), bt. by J. W. Dearden Esq. The asking prices was 300 guineas. * We are very grateful to Helen Glad, the artist's granddaughter, for her observations about this picture. Ms Glad notes the energy and optimism to be found in Lindsay's work of the 1920s, probably the artist's response to the devastation of the Great War. This watercolour is similar to a 1924 etching entitled The Happy Barge. Before the 1920s, Lindsay was primarily recognized as a black and white artist and so his mastery of the difficult medium of watercolour was extraordinary. His multi-figured compositions with such complex washes were notably distinguished. The title, Fanfrolico, refers to the private press set up by Norman and his son Jack at the time: it specialised in poetry, mythology and anything which captured the imagination. The press specialised in lavishly produced volumes of exceptional quality.