George Edmond Finey (16 March 1895 – 8 June 1987) was an Australian black-and-white artist, noted for his unconventional appearance and

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

politics. He was born on 16 March 1895 in

Parnell, New Zealand Parnell () is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is one of New Zealand's most affluent suburbs, consistently ranked within the top three wealthiest, and is often billed as Auckland's "oldest suburb" since it dates from the earliest days o ...

. While working as an apprentice

lithographer Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...

at the

New Zealand Herald ''The New Zealand Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Auckland, New Zealand, owned by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, and considered a newspaper of record for New Zealand. It has the largest newspaper circulation in New Zealand ...

, he studied part-time at the Elam School of Art, sharing a studio with Unk White. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Finey served in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

with the

New Zealand Army The New Zealand Army (, ) is the principal Army, land warfare force of New Zealand, a component of the New Zealand Defence Force alongside the Royal New Zealand Navy and the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Formed in 1845, as the New Zealand Mil ...

New Zealand Expeditionary Force The New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) was the title of the military forces sent from New Zealand to fight alongside other British Empire and Dominion troops during World War I (1914–1918) and World War II (1939–1945). Ultimately, the NZE ...

as an under-age private, before being appointed as an official

War Artist A war artist is an artist either commissioned by a government or publication, or self-motivated, to document first-hand experience of war in any form of illustrative or depictive record.Imperial War Museum (IWM)header phrase, "war shapes lives" ...

. After the war, he studied at the

Regent Street Polytechnic The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Po ...

School of Art in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and arrived in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in 1919. In 1921, he was appointed by Alex Sass as a staff artist with ''

Smith's Weekly ''Smith's Weekly'' was an Australian tabloid newspaper published from 1919 to 1950. It was an independent weekly published in Sydney, but read all over Australia. History The publication took its name from its founder and chief financer Sir ...

''.Lindesay, Vane ''The Inked-In Image'' Heinemann, Melbourne 1970 Although he started with humorous sketches, it was for his caricatures that he became famous, initiating in Smith's Weekly a "Man of the Week". The first subject was Archbishop Mannix. He was sacked by Smith's Weekly after a legal tussle over ownership of works he had produced for the paper. Finey worked for the '' Labor Daily'' for three months before being dropped for his antagonism towards Jack Lang, and then worked for

Truth Truth or verity is the Property (philosophy), property of being in accord with fact or reality.Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionarytruth, 2005 In everyday language, it is typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise cor ...

for a few years. He also worked for the

Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was foun ...

, which he left in 1945 after he and Will Mahony refused to draw an anti-

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

cartoons, and the Militant Minority Movement paper, ''The Red Leader''. Finey also illustrated stories and articles appearing in the School Magazine published by the NSW Department of Education. The issues of June, August and September 1947 contain examples of his work. He then turned to painting in an expressionistic style, and was possibly the first Australian painter to experiment with

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

"Money for paints is scarce if you are living on the pension, and Finey creates constantly out of waste, scrap and natural materials. He has made a whole series out of rolled-up, varnished newspapers, and he is adding to his History of Music with portraits of composers done in plastic foam, etched out with fine sandpaper. He uses rags, twine, shells, clay and stumps taken from the bush ..."

In 1978, he held a retrospective exhibition at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

. Finey was considered by Stan Cross to be the greatest of Australia's newspaper artists. George Blaikie remembered him as an unkempt long-haired sandal-wearing

Bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

, fearlessly honest in his work, and generous to a fault.Blaikie, George. ''Remember Smith's Weekly''. Angus & Robertson, London 1967 He was an acknowledged influence on the work of Noel Counihan. Finey was one of the 25 foundation members of the Black and White Artists' Society (later Club), and was prominent in its activities until shortly before he died.

Awards

*Bathurst Prize for watercolour 1959

References

*''Art in Australia'' issue June 1924 *''Art in Australia'' issue June 1931

External links

Search for work by George Finey on DigitalNZ
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finey, George Australian editorial cartoonists Australian caricaturists 1895 births 1987 deaths 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century New Zealand male artists New Zealand editorial cartoonists Australian male painters New Zealand painters New Zealand military personnel of World War I New Zealand emigrants to Australia Immigrants to Australia Alumni of the Regent Street Polytechnic