The Life of George Finey
George Edmond Finey was an Australian illustrator, cartoonist, and caricaturist born in Auckland, New Zealand. During his early years, he worked as an apprentice lithographer at the New Zealand Herald while studying at Auckland's Elam School of Art. His service in the New Zealand Army Service Corps during the First World War took him to Egypt and France, where he was wounded and suffered burns from mustard gas. Following his service, he spent time studying in London before moving to Sydney in 1919.
In Sydney, Finey became a prominent figure in the newspaper industry. He worked for several publications, most notably Smith's Weekly, where he developed skills as a caricaturist. His work also appeared in the Labor Daily, The Daily Telegraph, and Truth. In his later years, Finey lived in the Blue Mountains, focusing on painting, sculpture, and mixed media works.
Artistic Practice and Achievements
Finey's artistic career spanned various mediums and styles. While widely admired for his black-and-white caricatures and political cartoons, he also engaged in the following:
- Expressionistic and mixed media paintings
- Collage and assemblage
- Junk sculptures created from materials such as rags, twine, shells, clay, and stumps
- Enamel paintings
- Ceramics
His exhibitions took place in various locations, including Sydney, New York, Tokyo, and London. In 1959, he received the Bathurst Prize for watercolour. Finey also authored an autobiography titled The Mangle Wheel: My Life, published in 1981.
