Norman Lindsay (1879 - 1969)
Two Lovers, 1924
etching, engraving and stipple
edition: 10 of 55
18.8 x 13.9cm
Signed, titled and editioned in margin
Collections:
Other impressions of this print are in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, the Art Gallery of NSW,The Geelong Art Gallery, Museum of Art, University of Melbourne and the Mitchell Library.
Reference:
The Complete Etchings of Norman Lindsay by Lin Bloomfield, Odana Editions, 1998, p.264 (illustrated, another example).

Lin Bloomfield, the author of ‘The Complete Etchings of Norman Lindsay’, is quoted having said "Norman Lindsay is the most collected person in Australia". In his day and to this day, the popularity and controversy surrounding ‘Lindsayana’ is resounding.

On 29th July, 1924, Lindsay exhibited a collection of watercolours, pen drawings and etchings, including this exquisite 'Two Lovers', in Preece's Gallery, Adelaide. Sir Tom Bridges, the then Governor of South Australia, opened the exhibition and in his speech described the work as of rare imagination and perfect technique. Recounts of the exhibition tell of day after day a queue stretching down the stairs and out into the street. However opinion on the morality of Lindsay’s pictures greatly divided a conservative public, confronted by mythological scenes of nudity.

In the same year, prior to this controversial Adelaide exhibition, the journalist A.G. Stephens published an article titled 'The Rise and Fall of Norman Lindsay' in the Pacific weekly, 1st Feb 1924. Norman Lindsay, from his Springwood home, retorted weeks late in a personal letter to A.G. Stephens dated Feb 17, 1924:

"Dear Stephens, I hear from McCrae (otherwise I would not have known it) that you have been at your old lunes again of attacking me. ... It is at this point that I am forced to recollect that you still linger among the hosts of the unburied dead ..., I won't attack you, ... but I will write a little article about you, and publish it."

In 1924, the publication date of this fine etching ‘Two Lovers’ by Norman Lindsay was a time of conflict for the artist. Look closely at the Two Lovers and you can feel the hostility between the angry black capped antagonist and the surprised, but willing young challenger as they prepare to battle over the distressed female muse. As viewers, Lindsay has thrust us into a theatrical moment, as though it were a scene from a play. Who will win the prize female? Will the dark, evil character triumph over good?

In the twenty-first century, our social mores on nudity have changed since 1924. Lindsay continues to be admired by each new generation – surely a triumph for the artist.