Norman Lindsay Gallery and Museum

About

The Norman Lindsay Gallery and Museum is the former residence and farmlet of Australian artist Norman Lindsay. Now an art gallery, tourist attraction and museum located at 14–20 Norman Lindsay Crescent in the Blue Mountains town of Faulconbridge in the City of Blue Mountains local government area of New South Wales, Australia, it was built from 1898 to 1913 by Francis Foy, Patrick Ryan, Lindsay, and the artist's wife, Rose Lindsay (nee Soady). The property, owned by the National Trust of Australia (NSW) (Community Group), is also known as Maryville and Springwood. The site includes a stone cottage home on a 17-hectare (42-acre) and several smaller buildings, including two used by Lindsay as an oil painting studio and an etching studio. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 1 March 2002. The 1994 film Sirens, based on Lindsay's work and life, was filmed at the home and studio.

The 17-hectare (42-acre) property was originally owned by Patrick Ryan, a local stonemason. In 1898 he sold the land, then called "Erin-go-Braugh" to Francis Foy, brother of Mark Foy, a Sydney entrepreneur. Soon after Foy commissioned Ryan to build a sandstone cottage, which his family used as a halfway house between Sydney and Medlow Bath, where Mark Foy owned the holiday retreat, The Hydro Majestic.

The house, renamed Maryville, was a small four bedroom construction with a roof covering of French tiles and a corrugated galvanised iron bullnosed verandah painted with red and white stripes, wooden support posts and iron lace brackets. There was a bow window on the left of the front door and a double hung sash window on the other side of the door. Because of the potential fire risk, the kitchen was a separate building. The kitchen was constructed from a different stone to that of the main building and was located on the highest point of the property. This siting suggests that perhaps the kitchen was the first building constructed, even when Ryan owed the property.

The front of the verandah was enclosed by a dry stone wall, which was later added to, as illustrated by the differing construction techniques. On the inside of the wall, in between the front gate and the driveway entrance, was a semi circular concrete bench under a gum tree. On one end was an iron urn and at the other was a circular stone with a hole in the middle. As it was not a very sound structure, it had been demolished by the 1930s. During this time the Foys owned the property, a number of outbuildings were constructed. A two bedroom cottage with a bathroom, verandah, and an open fireplace, known during the Lindsay era as "The Camp" was built as servants quarters. There was also a weatherboard structure to the west of "The Camp". although it is unclear whether this was built by the Foys or in the very early Lindsay years. This shed structure consisted of a stable, feed room, buggy shed, tool shed, milking bails and yards.

The property was discovered by Norman Lindsay and Rose Soady in a dilapidated and overgrown state in 1912, and was subsequently purchased by Rose at the end of that year. Throughout 1913, many renovations were made to the building. Initially, new floorboards were laid to replace old ones, which had been eaten by termites. Then major constructions began, with the help of numerous locals including the Stattons. The bullnosed verandah and wooden posts were removed and replaced with an extended verandah covered with tiles imported from France to match those on the main roof. At the north eastern side, a two-foot wall was constructed on the outside edge of the verandah, approximately halfway along that side and green wooden venetian blinds were added to the front and side to make a sleep-out. Norman's design meant that the pitch of the roof was carried through to the verandah, and in conjunction with his interest in the classics, he cast many Grecian Ionic columns for supports.

It was also at this time that the wall between the two southwestern rooms was removed, thus creating the drawing room. The original bow window was also replaced with a pair of lead light French doors. Recesses were also made within the walls to accommodate Normans art works.

At the same time temporary wooden studio was built under a Moreton Bay Fig, where the courtyard is today. Whilst Lindsay used this studio, the construction of a more permanent sandstone studio was under way to the west of the main building, and further down the hill. This studio was a one-room construction with a closed verandah. This first studio was to later become the Etching Studio. Further down the hill were steps leading to a rectangular Roman style bath, apparently a pre-Lindsay installation on the location of a natural spring. It is possible that the bath was a Foy installation and a result of the family's interest in hydrotherapy.

It was not until 1915 that it was realised that the land on which the etching studio was constructed was not part of their property, so in 1916 the Lindsays rushed to Sydney to purchase the seven acres adjoining block, before the "actual" owners realised that there was a building on their property.

This period also saw the beginning of Norman Lindsay's project of populating the bush landscape of Springwood with nude statues. The first statue, of a female nude standing upright in an urn, was constructed and installed before the major works on the verandah began. Soon after the completion of the verandah and the front steps, Norman constructed two standing female nudes, which were placed on either side of the steps.

Between 1914 and 1916 construction of the swimming pool and the landscaping of the surrounding bush was in progress. The back wall of the pool was laid on bedrock, under which water seeped. There were also two cracks due to the formwork being taken away too soon. The filtration system consisted of fine wire netting through which the water flowed. The water was run off the property. There were also numerous terraces placed within the surrounding hillside, perhaps reflecting the influence that the English Romantic movement and notions of Arcadia had on Norman Lindsay's planning endeavors.

Soon after the completion of the swimming pool in 1916, the statue of seated women was installed at its edge. At the same time the statue of the "Satyr Pursuing the Nymph" was constructed and positioned in its current location. The statue of the nude with her hands behind her head as also of this era, though it was perhaps originally placed in another location and moved in the late 1930s.

In 1918, the present painting studio was built by Norman Lindsay and Percy Louden, a local man who worked on the property. In its original state, the studio was a one-room building, assembled from concrete and coke breeze bricks made by Lindsay. There was also a first level deck on the northeastern side, to which access was gained by a ladder through a trapdoor in the ceiling of the building still remaining. The deck had rigging of screens and an umbrella, but it was abandoned due to the lack of protection from the elements. It was at this time also that previous studio was dedicated solely to the production of etchings, reflecting the changing direction in Norman's art.

A statue installation of this time was that of the woman bending to dry her hair which was originally positioned directly in front of the new studio. It would have been soon after this that a bust was added to a head that was given to Norman by Francis Crossle, and which was subsequently installed to the left of NTA No 673. Later another bust was produced to match this one and was placed on the right hand side of NTA No 637, in front of the opening in the trellis which ran behind this statue group and in front of the studio. This trellis also hid the outhouse.

1920 brought the marriage of Norman and Rose and within two weeks the birth of their first child, Jane. This led to major changes to the house and grounds, and is perhaps this year that was one of the most important in terms the site's development.

The principal change was the addition of the four rooms at the rear of the main building. The four rooms consisted of a nursery on the northeast end. In keeping with Norman's original design, the roof and four rooms maintained the slope of the main buildings roof leading to the problem of very low perimeter ceilings in these rooms. At this time the bathroom was also built next to the kitchen, and the sleepout was glazed. The laundry was also in existence, which remains now in the form of the men's toilets. The Studio also underwent changes with the addition of a small fibro-asbestos storeroom at the back. Within this storeroom was a darkroom, with red and green windowpanes which could be dropped into places as required during film processing. Two years later a small bedroom was added, extending towards the northwest with a shed behind it, thus replacing the first floor deck.

In 1924 also bought major changes to the building. Initially a kitchen and the bathroom were renovated and tiled in a style designed by Rose. The original hexagonal pattern now remains only within the pantry adjacent the kitchen currently used as a storeroom. At this time Rose also tiled all the doorsteps, the fireplace, front steps and outside toilet. Contemporaneously with these renovations a temporary corrugated galvanised iron structure was erected west of original kitchen to house the old small fuel stove.

The most important development of this period was the construction of the courtyard behind the spare room and sewing room, and west of the kitchen. A high wall was constructed on the southwest end, which was blind except for small square windows on either side of the storeroom. The building of this storeroom which still serves its original function was undertaken during a period which was one of the most productive times for Norman and his art. Verandahs were constructed on the opposing northwest and southeast facing walls. The verandah supports are wooden posts with concrete bases, and when the courtyard was completed, awnings were added to the northwest facing verandah roof. It was at this time that a skylight was added to the sewing room due to the lack of light resulting from the courtyard construction.

Soon after, the Balinese dancer statue was installed as a centrepiece to the open grass area in the courtyard space, which was used from this time as the main entertaining area. Around this time in 1924, the statue of the women holding her breasts was constructed, and placed on a bench, which had first been constructed in the 1910s. The passageway from the dining room to the kitchen was also built at this time, with a gauze doorway giving access to both the courtyard and the Isabella grapevine pergola on the other side. This pergola extended across from the edge of the kitchen roof to the edge of the nursery roof, and must have been installed and planted soon after the construction of a garage next to the existing shed.

1928 had under taken numerous other developments. Perhaps the most important was the installation of the main colonnade pergola running south-east/north-west along the northeastern wall of the main building. The ionic columns making up the walkway were made by Norman in the tradition of his earlier renovations, and wisteria plants were added soon after. Using the same moulds, Norman also built the tank stand on the northwestern side of the studio.

A second bedroom and bathroom was added to the studio, which housed Jane in 1940s and the domestic staff at various other times, and a small square window was knocked out of the front wall to compensate for the limited light provided by the skylight. The shed was also extended to allow for Rose's second car.