cartoonist, sculptor, puppeteer and TV producer of animated films, was born in Melbourne, Vic, on 27 September 1946. His first cartoons were published in Nation Review in June 1971. He drew its major political cartoon from September, until enticed to the Australian Financial Review. From there, he moved to the Age (1976) where he remained until 1994. Age cartoons include Destruction, 2 June 1982 (Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel God with finger approaching button on computer controlling nuclear warheads, ill. Christine Dixon). In 1994 he went to the Australian, replacing Bill Mitchell, who died in May.
A member of the Australian Black and White Artists’ Club, Nicholson has won two Walkley awards for best cartoon (1982, 1992) and two for best illustration (1991-92). In 1994 he won first prize in the Melbourne Savage Club Centenary Art Prize for Politics (second Glen Le Lievre, third John Spooner) and first and second prize in the general category (third Glen Le Lievre and John Allison). His cartoon The Miniaturist in Bringing the House Down at Old Parliament House, Canberra, was judged the best of the 188 works by 41 political cartoonists (Hon Mentions Jenny Coopes and Ron Tandberg). John Howard’s Cricket Clinic, published in the Australian on 21 December 1996, Sqirrel Grip of 14 June 1997, One Day my Boy of 2 June 1997, and Mouthguard of 8 May 1997, were exhibited in Bringing the House Down: 12 Months of Australian Political Humour (Canberra: National Museum of Australia/ Old Parliament House exhibition, 1997), cats.8, 24, 32, 92.
Nicholson’s 1995-96 solo exhibition The Rubbery Years attracted over 36,600 people in its first six weeks at Old Parliament House, Canberra, prior to a national tour. His rubbery figure puppets were originally created for a satiric television program, The National. Since the late 1980s he has also cast his sculptured caricatures in bronze and made animated films. Under a self-portrait in the Australian (1-7 April 1999) Nicholson stated:
“I try to take something that going on in people’s minds—bubbling away under the surface. They might not be able to express it—but once they see it in a cartoon, it’s as if the events themselves do the thinking, not me. I would operate the same way regardless of who is in government. I don’t like to feel as if I’m attacking someone—you try to convey some underlying truth that’s out there and hopefully people won’t forget the image.”
The panel says:
The artist: “Whimsical and mercurial. The creator of the wonderful rubbery figures chips away at the establishment on a daily basis.”
The politician: “Always a quality product. Wry, sharp and colourful. One of the best in the business.”
- Writers:
- Kerr, Joan
- Date written:
- 1996
- Last updated:
- 2007
