Lindsay Gallery

Quorn in the southern Flinders Ranges, a classic Australian bush town, with streets wide enough to herd a mob of sheep to the railway yards come sale time. The Transcontinental Hotel, with its magnificent verandahs harks back to a time when this was a bustling railway town. But, hidden away in this outback streetscape, is a treasure trove of Victorian art and culture, about as far removed from sheep grazing and sale yards as one can get.

This is one couple's beautiful obsession, Catherine and Philip Botts' shrine to pastimes long gone, like the taking of high tea, while admiring high art. The Norman Lindsay Art Gallery is housed upstairs in what was the original dining hall in the main street of Quorn. Built by William Bruse, seen here with his wife and daughter Ethel, the dining hall has been meticulously restored with an abundance of beautiful Edwardian and Victorian furniture. And across each wall hang art works from the Lindsay clan, one of the great artistic and literary families of Australian history.

"I come from the Western Districts of Victoria and southeast South Australia and the Lindsay family were based in Creswick and it's been an interest since my first visit to the Ballarat Fine Arts when I was about five with the whole family. My passion is for the family that come from such a staid background to what they've developed into, with five renowned artists".

Katherine has collected limited etchings, woodcuts and water colour prints from Percy, Lionel, Ruby, Daryl and Norman Lindsay, and as you cast an eye over this feast of Victorian era art, you realise the Lindsay's were anything but staid. Norman in particular had a liking for the female form and his work and life certainly raised a few eyebrows.

"Norman was known as the most unconventional, because of what he was doing at the time. He also sculptured nudes as well as paintings and drawings and supposedly lived in Bohemian style".

If anything, the work of the Lindsay's puts paid to the myth that the Victorian era was all about tight fittings corsets and repressed emotions.

"The Victorian Period wasn't a staid period. There was a lot of exploratory work done, and the Lindsay's as a group of five did that. They showed that it wasn't a dull, lifeless colour period. This room is painted in the colour that it was originally in. Now a lot of people would walk in and say well that's bright and modern, but these are Victorian colours that were dulled through paint and kerosene lamps, and that's what happened to a lot of the art work of the same period".

Many of the pieces on show are for sale. And as you browse, you can also sit down to high tea, or a light supper, all the time admiring the surroundings from the pressed metal ceiling to the ornate fountain.

"I enjoy coming up with customers because I like to watch their mouths drop open. I just don't say anything, I just let them walk in and it's really nice to have people appreciate it".

The Norman Lindsay Gallery is above Quornucopia in the main street of Quorn. Admission is $10.00. Supper for ten people or more can be arranged by appointment. Just contact Katherin or Philip Bott on 8648-6282

For more information you can email info@postcards.sa.com.au