We are sad to announce that the genius that was Bruce Petty has died in Sydney, aged 93, after a long illness.
Petty was born in Doncaster, Victoria in 1929.
He was a brilliant, prolific and beloved cartoonist; a filmmaker of considerable success, receiving an Academy Award for he short film, Leisure, in 1977.
He was also a printmaker and sculptor, creating his famous “machines” which seemingly emerged from his head as models of how he understood things in the world.
He was a guest lecturer, a great supporter of his colleagues and especially a generous mentor to his younger followers. He was never arrogant, and often seemed genuinely surprised and delighted by what his mind produced. His drawing style was remarkable in its scribbly mess which nevertheless managed to convey the most sophisticated insights.
He was a sharp, whimsical and independent thinker with a powerful ethical sense, who somehow managed to work until a ripe old age (retiring from cartooning at 86) without succumbing to ideological sclerosis.
Besides his Academy Award, he also received a Stanley Award for his contribution to cartooning in 2001, a Quill Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009 Award, a Walkley Award for his outstanding contribution to journalism in 2016, and he was inducted into the ACA Hall of Fame in 2014. (Bio)
He will be greatly missed by his cartoonist colleagues.
We at the ACA send our condolences and best wishes to his family and loved ones at this time.
Cathy Wilcox
President
Australian Cartoonists Association