The Lindsay drawing, alongside the autograph book and a photo of its owner

This week we received a generous donation from a Melbourne woman who brought in her grandmother’s autograph book from 1909, which contains notes, poems and messages from friends and family.Her grandmother lived in Creswick, the home of the creative Lindsay family. She moved in the same social circles as Daryl Lindsay, who penned a self-portrait in the book – it is possibly the earliest known drawing by him.

Daryl Lindsay was brother of renowned artists Norman and Lionel (featured in our current exhibition Bohemian Melbourne). As well as his art practice, Daryl worked as the director of the National Gallery of Victoria for many years and his wife was Joan Lindsay, author of the celebrated novel Picnic at Hanging Rock.