Jon Molvig

Who was Jon Molvig?

Jon Molvig was an Australian expressionist artist, considered a major developer of 20th-century Australian expressionism, even though his career 'only' lasted 20 years. He was born in the Newcastle, New South Wales suburb of Merewether.

Molvig won the Archibald Prize in 1966 with a portrait of painter Charles Blackman and portraits of Molvig by artist John Rigby were hung in the Archibald in 1953 and 1959. He won many other prizes including the 1955 and 1956 Lismore Prize, 1961 Transfield Prize, 1963 Perth Prize, 1965 David Jones Prize, 1966 Corio Prize and 1969 Gold Coast Prize. During the late fifties/early sixties Molvig held weekly, very informal, life drawing classes which were central to the Brisbane art scene at the time, and he was mentor to various emerging artists such as John Aland, Andrew Sibley, Gordon Shepherdson, Mervyn Moriarty, Joy Roggenkamp and many others. Otte van Gilst became a student in 1958, moved in with Molvig in January 1960 and they married in August 1963.