Percy Lindsay

Who was Percy Lindsay?

Percival Charles Lindsay was an Australian landscape painter, illustrator and cartoonist, born in Creswick, Victoria. Percy was the first child born to Jane Lindsay and Dr Robert Charles Lindsay. His siblings included the well-known artists: Sir Lionel Lindsay, Norman Lindsay, Ruby Lindsay and Sir Daryl Lindsay.

Percy first began painting while at school and further developed his skills during the late 1880s. Tuition from Fred Sheldon and Walter Withers saw him develop his painting skills to a professional level.

Lindsay moved to Melbourne in the 1890s and worked as an illustrator and cartoonist. During his time in Melbourne. he was at the centre of the city's bohemian art community. In 1918 he moved with his wife and child to Sydney, where he continued to paint landscapes while working as a cartoonist on the Bulletin magazine.

Percy is the least known of the five Lindsay artists and is best remembered for his fine landscape paintings and his happy carefree personality. The artist had a retrospective exhibition of his work at the Ballarat Fine Art Gallery in 1975. An accompanying essay by the then BFAG director Ron Radford was included in the exhibition catalogue.