Michael Leunig
Michael Leunig | |
---|---|
Swinburne Film and Television School | |
Occupation(s) | Cartoonist, poet, artist |
Spouse(s) | Pamela Munro (unknown) Helga Salwe (1992–2016) |
Children | 4 |
Website | leunig |
This article may lend undue weight to certain ideas, incidents, or controversies. (October 2014) |
Michael Leunig (born 2 June 1945), typically referred to as Leunig (his signature on his cartoons), is an Australian cartoonist. His works include The Curly Pyjama Letters, cartoon books The Essential Leunig, The Wayward Leunig, The Stick, Goatperson, Short Notes from the Long History of Happiness and Curly Verse, among others and The Lot, a compilation of his 'Curly World' newspaper columns. Leunig has also written a book of prayers, When I Talk To You.
He was declared an
Life and career
Leunig, a fifth generation Australian,
After working as a labourer in an
Leunig began his cartoon career while at Swinburne in 1965
The main outlet for Leunig's work has been the daily Fairfax Media newspapers, Melbourne's The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.[citation needed] The Australian Broadcasting Corporation has also provided airtime to Leunig to discuss his views on a range of political and philosophical issues.[citation needed]
Cartoons
Leunig's drawings are done with a sparse and quivering line, usually in black and white with ink wash; the human characters are always drawn with exaggerated noses. This style served him well in his early years, when he gained a loyal following for his quirky take on social issues. He also made increasingly frequent forays into a personal fantasy world of whimsy, featuring small figures with teapots balanced on their heads, grotesquely curled hair and many ducks.[citation needed]
Leunig has frequently satirised concepts such as
His work has also frequently explored spiritual, religious and moral themes.[citation needed]
Controversial works
Leunig's cartoons have occasionally been a source of controversy. In 2008, he wrote that "Artists must never shrink from a confrontation with society or the state."[9]
Between 1995 and 2000, he drew the ire of working mothers by satirising the heavy reliance upon
Leunig opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq commenting that "if a cartoonist is representing the government line on Iraq, they're nothing better than a propagandist".[8]
In 2006,
Leunig has also stated his opposition to the Israeli government. Three of his 2004–2006 cartoons drew letters of protest nationally and internationally. The three pieces took as their subjects:
Leunig has partially defined his position with this statement:
I have a Jewish friend, a Holocaust survivor, who says that she never could have lived in Israel because in her view it is a totalitarian state. ... I believe that something fundamental and vital, not just to Israel but to the entire world, has been gravely mishandled by the present Israeli administration and it bothers me deeply. It is my right to express it.[8]
— Michael Leunig, 13 January 2006, The Age
In September 2021, Leunig's cartoon contributions for the editorial page in the Monday edition of The Age newspaper in Melbourne were ended following the paper's rejection for publication of a cartoon he had drawn in response to COVID-19 vaccination requirements in Australia.[13][14] The cartoon compared resistance to vaccine requirements to the Tank Man in Tiananmen Square.[15] He continues to contribute cartoons for the Saturday edition of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald.
Characters and themes
In the series of cartoons that Leunig has created over the duration of his career, a number of characters have persistently appeared, including:
- The Duck[16]
- Mr Curly – a contented character who is at ease in the natural world[17][18]
- Vasco Pyjama – a restless wanderer who sometimes seeks the counsel of Mr Curly[18]
Leunig has, from a very early stage in his career, often included his own handwritten poetry within his cartoons;[19] subsequently he has also published books of poetry. He has been very open about his themes, in interviews about his work.[20][21][22]
Personal life
Leunig's first marriage, to Pamela Munro, ended in divorce. He married his second wife, Helga, in 1992 but separated in the 2010s. A film documentary about his life by Kasimir Burgess, The Leunig Fragments, was released in 2020 and reveals various difficulties that Leunig has experienced with family relationships.]
His sister, Mary Leunig (b. 1950), is also an accomplished cartoonist.[26]
Leunig has a studio in Northcote, Melbourne, and a property in north-east Victoria.[27]
Honours and celebrity
- 1999 – Leunig was declared an Australian Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia
- There has been a Melbourne tram decorated with his cartoon characters[citation needed]
- 2006 – Leunig featured strongly at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games. In the performance, the philosophical and mystical nature of his work was on display. It featured a "boy and his duck" and the boy's dreams and visions. Leunig was heard reading a stanza of his poem as a voice-over.
- Leunig was the creator of a popular iGoogle theme.[28]
- 2016 – Metrosideros leunigii, the oldest described fossil species of the flowering plant genus Metrosideros, was named after Leunig.[29]
Collaboration with Gyan
In 2006 Australian musician
Published works
Collections of press cartoons and original art and/or poems
- The Penguin Leunig (1974) (40th anniversary reissue 2014)
- The Second Leunig: a Dusty Little Swag (1979)
- The Bedtime Leunig (1981)
- A Bag of Roosters (1983)
- Ramming the Shears (1985)
- The Travelling Leunig (1990)
- A Common Prayer (1990)
- The Prayer Tree (1990)
- Introspective (1991)
- A Common Philosophy (1992)
- Everyday Devils and Angels (1992)
- A Bunch of Poesy (1992)
- You and Me (1995)
- Short Notes from the Long History of Happiness (1996)
- Why Dogs Sniff Each Other's Tails (1998)
- Goatperson and Other Tales (1999)
- Carnival of the Animals (2000)
- The Curly Pyjama Letters (2001)
- The Stick and Other Tales of our Times (2002)
- Poems (2003)
- Kicking Behinds (2003)
- Strange Creature (2003)
- Wild Figments (2004)
- A New Penguin Leunig (2005)
- Hot and Bothered (2007)
- The Lot: in Words (2008)
- When I Talk to You (2014)
- Musings from the Inner Duck (2015)
Multi-decade compilations
- Poems: 1972-2002 (2003 hardback) later Curly Verse: Selected Poems (2010 paperback)
- The Essential Leunig: Cartoons from a Winding Path (2012)
- Holy Fool: Artworks (2014)
- The Wayward Leunig (2015)
Works in the Australian National Bibliographic database
- The Animated Leunig (videorecording) (c2001)
- A bag of roosters / Michael Leunig (1983, ISBN 0-207-14830-9)
- The bedtime Leunig / Michael Leunig *1981, ISBN 0207145059
- A bunch of poesy / Leunig (1992, ISBN 0-207-17798-8)
- A celebration: Michael Leunig / Friends of the National Library of Australia (1997, ISBN 0-646-33090-X)
- A common prayer / Leunig (1990, ISBN 0-85924-933-6)
- A common prayer / Leunig (1993, ISBN 1-86371-231-3)
- A common prayer : a cartoonist talks to God / Leunig (1998, ISBN 1-86371-740-4)
- A conversation between Michael Leunig and Terry Laidler ... (1997)
- The curly pyjama letters / Michael Leunig (2001, ISBN 0-670-04023-1)
- The curly pyjama letters / Michael Leunig (2006, ISBN 978-0-14-300546-9)
- English in heat / Morris Lurie, drawings by Leunig (1972, ISBN 0-207-12384-5)
- Everyday devils and angels / Michael Leunig (1992, ISBN 0-14-015911-8)
- Goatperson and other tales / Michael Leunig (1999, ISBN 0-14-029140-7)
- The happy prints: printmaking / Michael Leunig (1998)
- Introspective / Michael Leunig, with foreword by Helen Garner (1988, ISBN 1-86436-356-8)
- Introspective / Michael Leunig ; with a foreword by Helen Garner (1991, ISBN 1-86372-200-9)
- Leunig's Carnival of the animals / Michael Leunig, Peter Garrett, Richard Tognetti and the Australian Chamber Orchestra (2000, ISBN 0-7329-1070-6)
- A new Penguin Leunig / Michael Leunig (1992, ISBN 0-14-017097-9)
- A new Penguin Leunig / Michael Leunig (2005, ISBN 0-14-300480-8)
- The Penguin Leunig: cartoons / by Michael Leunig, introduced by Barry Humphries (1974, ISBN 0-14-004019-6)
- Poems 1972–2002 / Michael Leunig (2003, ISBN 0-670-04091-6)
- The prayer tree / Leunig (1991, ISBN 1-86371-034-5)
- The prayer tree / Leunig (1998, ISBN 1-86371-741-2)
- Ramming the shears: a collection of drawings / Michael Leunig (1985, ISBN 0-949266-13-2)
- Ramming the shears: a collection of drawings / Michael Leunig (1990, ISBN 0-14-015801-4)
- The second Leunig, a dusty little swag: cartoons, a few verses and selected moments from the voyage of Vasco Pyjama / by Michael Leunig (1979, ISBN 0-207-14328-5)
- Short notes from the long history of happiness / Michael Leunig (1996, ISBN 0-670-87405-1)
- The stick : and other tales of our times / Michael Leunig (2002, ISBN 0-670-04048-7)
- The stick : and other tales of our times / Michael Leunig (2006, ISBN 978-0-14-300146-1
- Strange creature / Michael Leunig (2003, ISBN 0-670-04136-X)
- The travelling Leunig: cartoons / by Michael Leunig (1990, ISBN 0-14-014867-1)
- Why dogs sniff each other's tails : an old but true story / Michael Leunig (1998, ISBN 0-670-88354-9)
- Wild figments / Michael Leunig (2004, ISBN 0-14-300353-4)
- You and me: a collection of recent pictures, verses, fables, aphorisms and songs / Michael Leunig (1995, ISBN 0-14-025461-7)
References
- ISBN 9781864033618. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
- ^ "Biography". Leunig.com.au website. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
- ^ a b Michael Leunig (9 February 2008). "Education and the bunghole of life". The Age. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
- ^ Michael Leunig (13 January 2007). "Blood and guts, violence and death". The Age. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
- ^ Michael Leunig (14 October 2006). "Lest we forget". The Age. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
- ^ Gravett, Paul, 1001 Comics You Should Read Before You Die, Universe, 2011, p. 269.
- ^ "Leunig, Michael (1945–) – People and organisations". Trove. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
- ^ a b c Richard Phillips (23 February 2006). "Zionists witch-hunt Australia's leading cartoonist". World Socialist Web Site. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
- ^ Michael Leunig (7 June 2008). "Art from the heart". The Age. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
- ^ "Leunig and Good Taste". Media Watch. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 29 May 2006. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
- ^ a b "Australian in Iran cartoon 'hoax'". BBC News. 14 February 2006. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
- ^ Norrie, Justin (16 February 2006). "Chaser behind Leunig stunt". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
- ^ "Cartoonist Michael Leunig axed from prime spot at The Age over anti-Dan Andrews image" by Ben Graham, news.com.au, 25 October 2021
- ^ "People Are Roasting Leunig's Awful Comparison Of The Anti-Vax Movement To Tiananmen Square". Junkee. 28 September 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
- ^ Chang, Charis (27 September 2021). "'Offensive' Leunig anti-vax cartoon slammed". news.com.au. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
- ISSN 1440-7485
- ISSN 1324-3993
- ^ a b "The Curly Pyjama Letters by Michael Leunig". www.penguin.com.au. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
- ^ Leunig, Michael (October 1987), "Michael Leunig: poetry in pictures. -Interview conducted by Ewins, Rory-", Togatus, 58 (8): 16–19, retrieved 27 October 2014
- ^ Leunig, Michael (6 May 1991), "Michael Leunig, a very unpretentious man. -Interview-", Lot's Wife, 21 (i.e. v.31) (6): 12–14, retrieved 27 October 2014
- ^ Leunig, Michael (1995), "Making a cartoon: despair, chaos ... and the clock keeps ticking. - Interview with Michael Leunig by O'Connor, Peter-", Temenos (Canberra) (1): 19–22, retrieved 27 October 2014
- ISSN 0008-8420
- ^ a b The Leunig Fragments
- ^ The Guardian
- ^ "Rewind". Sunday Life Magazine the Sunday Age: 54. 16 December 2007.
- ^ "About". maryleunig.com website. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
- ^ Leunig Fragments documentary.
- ^ "iGoogle Artist Themes – Michael Leunig". Archived from the original on 15 December 2013. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
- PMID 27056926.
- ^ "Gyan and Mr Curly" (PDF). The Echo – Echonetdaily. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 August 2006. Retrieved 13 December 2013.
External links
- Official website
- Video: Michael Leunig in conversation with Jane Sullivan, Writers at the Convent, February 2009
- Interview with Michael Leunig, Enough Rope with Andrew Denton, 2006
- Today's cartoon in Melbourne's The Age (not always a Leunig cartoon)
- Feature – Michael Leunig, 27 June 2004, The Age
- One Plus One - Michael Leunig, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, December 2017