Wild Love by Kiera Lindsey

Title: Wild Love

Author: Kiera Lindsey

Genre: Biography/Autobiography

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Published: 31^st October 2023

Format: Paperback

Pages: 464

Price: $36.99

Synopsis: Kiera Lindsey uncovers the life of the exuberant colonial painter Adelaide Ironside, from her childhood on the shores of Sydney harbour to the leading artistic circles of Europe where she was celebrated as ‘the impersonation of genius’.

Colonial lasses were expected to marry at sixteen, but she wanted to be an artist, not a wife, and she had big ambitions. She wanted to train with the best painters of her day in Europe, to elevate her sex, and to adorn her home town of Sydney with republican frescoes.

Adelaide Ironside was the granddaughter of a convict forger, and the first locally born female professional painter to leave the colonies to train abroad. She astonished the poet Robert Browning with her ‘enthusiasm and wild ways’, was mentored by John Ruskin, sold her work to the Prince of Wales and won accolades in Rome and London as well as Paris and Sydney. Yet today she is largely forgotten.

In this compelling biography, historian Kiera Lindsey recreates Adelaide’s life and her relationship with her mother, Martha, who was her greatest supporter but who also hindered her from fully realising her ambitions. She reveals how romantic mysticism infused Adelaide’s life and work, and how the rebellious ideas of the Pre-Raphaelites changed the course of Adelaide’s art and career.

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In the world of Australian art, there are artists we know about and artists that we don’t know about in varying degrees. The ones that we do know about are often widely written about, celebrated, or on exhibition at art galleries around Australia. However, there are some artists that have been forgotten, lost to history, and who therefore receive little to no recognition. One of these artists is Adelaide Ironside, known as Aesi, a colonial painter from Sydney. Adelaide was the granddaughter of a convict forger – and the first locally born female professional painter who had grander ambitions than getting married at sixteen. Adelaide was determined to go to Europe and study with great artists and she did – selling paintings to royalty like the Prince of Wales and she was mentored by John Ruskin, and met all sorts of people in the arts whose names are known today. Yet nobody knows Adelaide’s name – I certainly didn’t until I stumbled on this biography by historian Kiera Lindsey. Kiera Lindsey has taken what she was able to find about Adelaide through extensive research, and has taken what she found and created a biography of Adelaide and her mother, Martha.

Wild Love is what Kiera calls a ‘speculative biography’ – an ethical and imaginative way of representing the stories of people who are underrepresented or left out of history like Adelaide was for so long. Keira has written her speculative biography in first person, through the eyes of Adelaide and her mother. Each woman tells a bit of the story at a time, allowing the reader to see things as they happened during the 1850s and 1860s during their life in Europe. As the story is told through two perspectives, both in first person, it allows the reader to gain insight into the world Adelaide and Martha lived in, and the lengths they went to for Adelaide’s art and education – they didn’t let societal expectations dictate how they lived, and the book moved through their lives in great detail. The meticulous research shone through, and not only told readers about Adelaide and her art, but the places and people they encountered, and brought them to life.

Speculative biography is a new genre for me, but an interesting one, especially when it is done ethically to bring lesser-known stories to life as Kiera Lindsey has done here. Readers get to know the subject of the biography in a way, hearing and reading their voice and thoughts, what they felt and what they did. I think this made it quite engaging, as it gave deeper insight into the lives of these remarkable women more than a typical biography might, though often how engaging any biography is can come down to the style of the author and how they have presented the information they have been able to find. The research that Kiera did at places like the Mitchell Library, galleries and anywhere else she was able to find anything was extensive and this shows in the biography. Nothing was wasted, and at the same time, everything was relevant. Whilst I found it easier to read during the day, it was an engaging read that revealed a part of nineteenth century Australian history and Adelaide’s story in a very special way, illustrating that these are stories that need to be told. It revealed that there was more going on than the standard history books tell us, and that everyone experienced the world they lived in differently. I liked that this book highlighted that through Adelaide and Martha’s eyes and gave women another voice in the historical record. It is in these untold and hidden stories that the realities of life are often found beyond wars and big events that changed the world or a country, and beyond the history that historians have largely chosen to focus on – making space in the record for more than just history about men and by men – as it was for many years. I think that books like this are a great thing, allowing artists like Adelaide to shine – as she should have years ago.

Adelaide and Martha’s story and what happened to Adelaide’s art after her death highlight the importance of art in all its forms, artists, and their contribution to the world. It also shows how quickly an artist can be forgotten by history, and what it means when their story is finally uncovered and brought to life. Adelaide would have been an interesting artist to learn about in school, amongst other artists who made an impact on the world. Her story needs to be widely told, and her art celebrated just like any artist that everyone knows about, and I think this book helps to do so.