Lindsay taught himself etching and engraving in the 1890s while a student, immediately prior to his first trip to Spain and England.

On his return to Australia he settled in Sydney as a freelance artist and journalist, contributing to The Bulletin and other magazines and newspapers.

Key themes in his oeuvre include the swagman in the outback,[5] old Sydney,[6] portraits of prominent Australians,[7] romantic views of Spain[8] and Arab culture, a series of classically inspired works, and birds and animals.

[9] In 1937 Lindsay became a foundation member of, and exhibited with, Robert Menzies' anti-modernist organisation, the Australian Academy of Art.

The Lionel Lindsay Art Gallery and Library, in Toowoomba, Queensland, holds rare books, manuscripts, and maps, and over 400 art works by members of the Lindsay family and other significant Australian painters, including Frederick McCubbin, Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts, and Rupert Bunny.