Francis Lymburner was born in Brisbane, Australia in 1916, studying art at Bathurst Technical College under an English tutor who introduced him to painters from the Slade School of Fine Art. Moving to England in 1952 to further his career, he mixed with fellow Australian expatriates and participated in group exhibitions. However, as his work did not conform to the landscape-based, contemporary Australian painting in vogue at the time, he achieved little success, eventually returning to Australia in 1964.
Painter and draughtsman Francis Lymburner was born in Brisbane, Australia on 11 June 1916. He studied art at Bathurst Technical College from 1934–36 under F. Martyn Roberts, an English tutor who taught a strict British art school doctrine. Through Roberts Lymburner was introduced to painters from the Slade School of Fine Art in London and under this influence he developed a style that was essentially European. In 1939 he moved to Sydney, where he attended evening-classes in etching at East Sydney Technical College, producing a number of drawings and sketches, particularly of animals, which demonstrated his outstanding skills as a draughtsman. In 1948, Ure Smith recognised his talent for drawing animals and published a book of his work, after which Lymburner achieved some success in Sydney. His romantic paintings — mainly of dancers, circus people and views of Sydney — were often associated with the ‘Sydney Charm School’ (also known as the Merioola Group). Curator Barry Pearce described Lymburner’s practice as ‘painting] [...] the world the way he wanted it to be, a romantic, fantastic counterpart to the dreary realities of existence’ (Art & Collectors).
Following a farewell exhibition at David Jones's Art Gallery in 1952, Lymburner left for England. However, his time there was difficult and disappointing. He lived on the meagre income from works sold at exhibitions in Australia, where his reputation was declining in his absence. He explored the world of theatre and music, particularly in London's Soho district, mixing with many well-known actors, writers and artists – as well as Australian expatriates such as Barry Humphries – but exhibited only occasionally in group shows in the capital. Due to his precarious finances, he often asked friends for a place to stay, lodging with Australian journalist Murray Sayle in South Kensington and Notting Hill Gate, and later, in a basement flat belonging to Humphries. During this time in England, Australian painting was very much in vogue – the prices of works by fellow Australians Sidney Nolan and Arthur Boyd were rocketing – but Lymburner's work did not fit into the category of landscape-based, contemporary Antipodean painting. Lymburner refused to be labelled as an Australian artist and achieved little success. Often unable to afford paint, he made drawings instead, frequenting a coffee lounge called The Palette in Queensway, W2. Humphries recalled: `When I met him in London he was bewildered and mildly amused, rather than embittered by his spectacular fall from fashion. Nolan was extolled everywhere, Arthur Boyd was beginning his international career, Blackman was exhibiting in Bond Street, but Lymburner remained on the periphery, a languid dandified figure in a black velvet jacket, a jaunty red neckerchief and always a cigarette and a glass of wine. If you did not know he was an artist you would have taken him for an attractive, if slightly down-at-heel flaneur`(Kolenberg and Pearce 1992, p. 17).
Lymburner advocated for a triumph of figuration over abstraction and noted in 1962: `The big excitement in London just now is the Kokoschka show at the Tate. It fills seven rooms and is very exciting. It also helps to drive the nail into the coffin of abstract art – which is all very helpful to me’ (as cited in Pierse 2017, p. 192). In 1957 he contributed work to the Australian Artists' Association exhibition at the Imperial Institute, London, among fellow Australian painters including Roy de Maistre, Sydney Nolan and Albert Tucker; Lymburner’s work was singled out in the Manchester Guardian. Following the 1961 survey exhibition of contemporary Australian art at the Whitechapel Art Gallery there was some resurgence of interest in his work which resulted in an exhibition of his drawings at Qantas Gallery in Piccadilly in 1963. Sir John Rothenstein, former director of the Tate, visited and praised Lymburner’s exhibition, and a short film on the artist and his work was shown in the BBC programme Town and Around in 1963. Among the drawings and watercolour sketches Lymburner produced while in England were Ballet Africain 3 (1960), Studio Window, London (ca.1960) and Cliffs by the sea, Font Y Gary (ca.1961), now in the Art Gallery NSW collection.
Lymburner eventually returned to Australia in 1964 after a successful show in Paris and Melbourne, which earned him a positive review from prominent Australian art critic Bernard Smith. His style become increasingly painterly and more expressionistic, and although he exhibited widely on his return home, he never achieved the recognition he expected. Ure Smith published another volume of his drawings and paintings in 1965, but the following year Lymburner suffered a severe cerebral haemorrhage, after which curtailed his career. His main activity became teaching with occasional exhibitions, garnering little success. In 1970, Lymburner produced a book of drawings, which despite their quality, received a lukewarm reception. Francis Lymburner died in Sydney, Australia in 1972. His work is represented In UK public collections in the British Museum.