Bruce Petty, 2008

Bruce Petty (b. 1929), cartoonist, animator and filmmaker, is the only Australian to have won an Academy Award for an animated film. After beginning his career in animation in 1949, between 1955 and 1960 he worked freelance overseas as a cartoonist and illustrator, seeing his work published in magazines including Punch and the New Yorker. A trip he took in the early 1960s gave rise to the first of his many published compilations, An Australian Artist in South East Asia. In 1965 he began his long career as resident cartoonist for the Australian newspaper. In 1972 he made his first animated films, Australian History and A Big Hand for Everyone, the latter a short critique of mass media blending animation, kinetic sculpture, film clips and acted segments. The short Leisure (1976) won him his Oscar in 1977. Following on from his 1997 book The Absurd Machine: A Cartoon History of the World, in 2002 he produced Human Contraptions, a series of ten short films on the evolution of institutions such as the law, education, finance and art. His most recent film is Global Haywire (2006), combining animation with documentary satire. His sculptures include the Creativity Beam (1988) for the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, and since 1997 he has made more than 60 etchings and drypoints.

Collection: National Portrait Gallery
Commissioned 2008
© Commonwealth of Australia