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WILL DYSON, A MAN OF MANY ROLES
WILL DYSON: Cartoonist, Etcher
and Australia's Finest War Artist.
By Ross McMullin. Angus & Rob
ertson. 337pp. $29.95.
Reviewer:
CAROL MILLS.
X HE personality and antics of
Will Dyson have been woven
through many writings in the past,
particularly those relating to the
buccaneering Melbourne art world
around the turn of the century and
the artists of the Great War. In
both fields, Dyson's natural public
ebullience came forth.
This is the first attempt to con
solidate and portray the disparate
attributes of Dyson the political
cartoonist, the artist, the man, the
writer, the witty speaker, in one
narrative. In his portrayal of Dys
on as our first War Artist and in
his tussles with such as Monash
on the true nature of the Australian
digger, McMullin shows himself to
be a well-informed war historian.
The war section of this book could
be considered complementary to
other works which have appeared
recently about Australia in World
War I. For the rest, McMullin
makes no claims to be an art critic
or historian, and sets the scenc
biographically, judging Dyson in
terms of his known contemporary
impact.
The approach is chronological,
almost strictly so, to the point
where events which had a sequel
are not discussed in their entirety
until the sequel takes place, if then.
This means, for example, that Dys
on's interest in the Douglas credit
system, in which he first bccame
involved before the war, is men
tioned progressively as the nar
rative is strung together, and the
final discussion docs not occur
until the chapter which deals with
Bill's life, after he left Australia for
the last time through until his
death in January 1938.
As a depiction of Dyson the
expatriate in London the book of
fers a good synthesis of the avail
able evidence, but one wonders
whether more might have been
learnt if McMullin had gone to
Britain, rather than relying upon
resources to which he could obtain.
access in Australia. Minor inac
curacies, such as naming Dora
Meeson Coates as a member of the
Chelsea Arts Club, which had no
female members, might have been
avoided, and whole areas of fact
unknown in Australia discovered.
Ruby Lindsay and Bill Dyson
married in late September 1909,
and lefl five days later with her
brother, Norman, for London. Bill
remained in London until 1925.
Ruby died there in 1919.
McMullin agrees with others that
her death was a major catastrophe
which affected the rest of Dyson's
life.
The book is profusely illustrated
with Dyson's work. The quality of
the cartoon reproduction is quite
good, of the photographs only me
diocre at best. Dyson's early Lon
don work is taken from published
volumes, and not from the original
cartoons in the Daily Herald,
which means that we are being
given the judgment of his contem
poraries as to his best. A problem
for the user is that many of the
illustrations carry a credit note
naming the owner but do not spec
ify if the illustration is taken from
the original or a published copy of
it. With the exception of published
volumes of Dyson's work, no pub
lication citations are given to the
illustration credits. In addition,
not all quotes used in the text have
a reference to the notes.
The work stresses the lite ot
Dyson the public man. He is de
scribed as being sentimental, and
although examples arc given, most
attention is paid to his public life.
There is fleeting analysis of his
relations with both his wife and his
daughter. Relations with other
women are dealt with tactfully.
Dyson is seen as a man for
whom the death of his wife was
one blow too many. This may be
so, but a further problem was that
work opportunities past dried up,
and he was partly forced by cir
cumstances into the less satisfying
role of the popular cartoonist and
society man.
As a first work on Dyson,
McMullin has done well. He has
put within the reach of Australian
readers a clear picture of this vol
atile, remarkable man, who is
fondly believed by many British
people, who remember his work,
to be a compatriot.
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