Between his arrival in Sydney from Brisbane in 1939 and his departure for England in 1952, Francis Lymburner extablished himself as one of Australia's most promising young painters.

During this period his work was published, bought by collectors and praised by critics. Recognition it seemed was assured, but it was not to last. From 1952 Lymburner entered into spiritual exile, partly of his creation, and partly of circumstances that made for a classic tragedy of individualism, as he remained fiercely determined to stay on the course he had set himself.

It is interesting to reflect on how Lymburner's work was interpreted in his early years in Sydney, particularly his paintings. For it was principally as a painter that he was to struggle so hard for recognition.

Drawing was easy, a gift he was blessed with as a songbird was singing. But it was the discipline of painting which kept him from the perils of his own talent, and the means by which he fought against the temptation of commercialising his drawing skills.

He was so impoverished financially at times that he could easily have devoted himself more to employment as an illustrator. Yet he did not. He chose the hard way ...

From the introdution by Barry Pearce to the Catalogue "Francis Lymburner Retrospective" AGNSW, 1992