Description
Depicts Chunder Loo, an Indian gentleman, in the role of a teacher. His friends, the Australian Bear and Dog, are his students, and Bear is peering over Dog's shoulder to see what he is writing. Behind the jodhpur clad Chunder are white Australian soldiers, who are also sitting at a table in the classroom. They are full of mirth, perhaps anticipating Bear's impending punishment. In the upper right of the drawing is an indistinct map of the world.
This drawing is part of a series drawn by Lionel Lindsay, and occasionally Norman, to advertise Cobra boot polish in The Bulletin during the period from 1914 - 1919.
verso: the advertising jingle written by Ernest O'Ferrall to accompany the drawing has been inscribed.
Lionel Lindsay, painter, printmaker, writer and critic, was a member of the famous artistic Lindsay family. He commenced his career in the then popular field of magazine illustration, having taught himself how to draw from 'Punch' and other illustrated periodicals.
He and his brother Norman Lindsay produced drawings for the Chunder Loo series, from 1909 to 1920. Lindsay, however was the main contributor, and produced hundreds of them throughout the war on a weekly or fortnightly basis.
This style of this series has been described as the 'central Lindsay manner', as the Lindsays developed an illustrative style that made their work interchangeable. The 'plague of Lindsays', as one journalist dubbed the phenomenon, produced work that was humorous and dynamic. Chunder Loo was especially beloved by children, and Lionel was informed that parents often bought The Bulletin solely for their children to see what Chunder was doing. It has been described, along with Norman's cartoons, as Australian folk art.
Details
Accession Number
ARTC00029
Object Type
Work on paper
Measurement
Overall: 49 cm x 36 cm
Medium
pen, brush and ink, crayon with pencil on card
Credit Line
Purchased 1985
Copyright
Unlicensed copyright
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