One of Lionel Lindsay’s first assignments when working as an illustrator for the periodical the Hawklet was to sketch corpses at the Melbourne morgue.

Both Norman and Lionel Lindsay were obsessed with pirates. In 1898 Lionel, Norman and journalist friend Ray Parkinson signed an oath in blood to write a pirate novel which was to be loosely based on Treasure Island. They dressed like pirates and Lionel made his first etchings of pirates, using a press which was an old mangle. The novel didn’t eventuate, but the medium of etching had captured Lionel’s interest.

Lionel Lindsay’s artistic taste remained firmly in the 19th century. In his later years he became a strong opponent of modern art, expressing his sense of outrage in a publication, Addled Art. He wrote, ‘Modernism in art is a freak, not a natural, evolutional growth. Its causes lie in the spirit of the age that separates this century from all others: the age of speed, sensationalism, jazz and the insensate adoration of money … It is the product of Stunt’.*

_Footnotes

_{* Lionel Lindsay, Addled Art, 1946, p 15}

The Cannibals were young men involved Melbourne’s art scene who liked to party with wine, song and rather disreputable types. Female art students were not encouraged to attend these events.

As a boy, Lionel Lindsay was particularly interested in astronomy. This led his grandfather to arrange for the 15-year-old to move to Melbourne, where he was employed as a pupil assistant to the government astronomer, Pietro Baracchi. However, the move to Melbourne sparked Lionel’s artistic passion. In the South Melbourne public library, he would look at black-and-white reproductions of art and make pencil studies of famous European works. When Lionel returned to his family at Creswick, he put astronomy aside and studied for matriculation with a private tutor but kept a diary in which he drew members of his family, friends and scenes of Creswick life.