FEET OF CLAY

I've posted a lot on this Australian artist lately. The volume THE WORLD OF NORMAN LINDSAY makes no bones about the xenophobia and racism in his seldom-reproduced political cartoons. In the 1910s, he caricatured the Hun in a cage with other "sub-humans" as the "Cannibal Islander", the "Pygmy", the "Cave Dweller" and the "Gorilla". The Yellow Peril was a theme throughout the decades. Lindsay himself was a firm believer in the caste system. Inwardly, I groaned. Lindsay did include some handsome people of color in his work, but almost always in roles subservient to beautiful white women. The fact that Lindsay was harassed by prudes and stood apart from "conventional society" naturally causes an admirer to put two and two together, to equal that he was a forward thinker himself. He really had more in common with the "wowsers" than one would care to know.

The article goes through pains to note that Lindsay was "of his time". Kudos to the author for bringing out the truth, but...how many favorites of mine had a progressive bone in their body??

Best,
MK.