{{Short description|South Australian painter (1891–1950)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}} {{Use Australian English|date=June 2015}} '''George Whinnen''' (30 November 1891 – 7 November 1950) was a South Australian painter.
==History== He was born in Gawler, South Australia, a son of John and Emily Whinnen, née McIntosh (died 1923). After attending the local primary school he secured a job with A. C. Follett & Co., drapers of Murray Street, Gawler. He showed an interest in painting, so his uncle F. B. Whinnen, a Murray Street grocer, made him a gift of a set of paints.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article96852692 |title=Late Artist Was Born in Gawler |newspaper=Bunyip |location=Gawler, SA |date=17 November 1950 |accessdate=8 February 2015 |page=1 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
His family moved to Willaston, then to Broken Hill, where he worked for Don Tailors and took night classes in painting at the technical school. He took further classes at the East Sydney Technical School. He was a champion rifle marksman, winner of the Galway Cup.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article45425999 |title=Rifle Shooting |newspaper=The Barrier Miner |location=Broken Hill, NSW |date=24 June 1917 |accessdate=8 February 2015 |page=1 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} </ref> When he left Broken Hill for Adelaide around the end of 1924 a trophy for rifle marksmanship was named for him. A few years later he was able to make art his full-time occupation. He studied under Fred Britton and attended life classes at the Adelaide School of Art.
He won the Melrose Prize for portraiture in 1929<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article128870032 |title=Melrose Prize Winner |newspaper=The News |location=Adelaide |date=5 October 1929 |accessdate=8 February 2015 |page=4 Edition: SPORTS EDITION |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> and 1932,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article129062068 |title=Portrait Which Won Melrose Prize. |newspaper=The News |location=Adelaide |date=4 October 1932 |accessdate=8 February 2015 |page=5 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} </ref> also won prizes for landscapes and seascapes, much of which was painted around Victor Harbor.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article168551583 |title=Flinders News Gallery |newspaper=Victor Harbour Times (SA : 1932–1954) |location=SA |date=17 November 1950 |accessdate=8 February 2015 |page=4 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
He created a furore in 1940 when he removed a still life from an exhibition run by the R.S.A.S.A. in a protest against the judges.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article131530874 |title=Storm in Art World |newspaper=The News |location=Adelaide |date=27 April 1940 |accessdate=8 February 2015 |page=5 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article132006725 |title=Apology to R.S.A. for Removal of Painting |newspaper=The News |location=Adelaide |date=18 May 1940 |accessdate=8 February 2015 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> He was president of the Royal South Australian Society of Arts 1940–1950. Also in 1940 he was appointed by the Education Department as teacher of drawing and painting from Life and Still Life.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article41907538 |title=Well-Known Artists as Teachers |newspaper=The Advertiser |location=Adelaide |date=26 November 1940 |accessdate=8 February 2015 |page=14 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
The South Australian Museum commissioned him to paint a diorama for a major display of Central Australian wildlife.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54893185 |title=New Museum Diorama Has Central Australian Setting. |newspaper=The Mail |location=Adelaide |date=20 September 1941 |accessdate=8 February 2015 |page=17 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
His ''Still Life'' and ''Autumn Flowers'' were once held by the Art Gallery of South Australia.
==Family== George Whinnen married Gladys Hill Pearce (1891 – 8 December 1953) on 19 August 1919; they had three daughters: *Diana (1920–1929) *Jeanette (26 November 1922 – 8 June 2005) married Hugh Butterworth on 3 November 1951 *Anne (23 September 1931 – ) married Richard Fidock 29 March 1952 <!--also Dianna (deceased) from Gladys's death notice--> They had a home at 5 Rowell Avenue, Glenunga
== Selected Gallery == <gallery mode="packed-hover" caption="Selected works of George Whinnen."> File:George Whinnen - , LANDSCAPE WITH CATTLE, OIL ON CANVASBOARD, 30 X 40CM.jpg|George Whinnen - , LANDSCAPE WITH CATTLE, OIL ON CANVASBOARD File:George Whinnen - Roses oil on canvas signed lower left GEORGE WHINNEN 60 x 65.jpg|George Whinnen - Roses oil on canvas File:George Whinnen - Farm Yard Modbury Etching ed.jpg|George Whinnen - Farm Yard Modbury Etching File:George Whinnen - Old Mill, Mount Barker SA, Watercolour, Signed lower left, 24 x 32cm.jpg|George Whinnen - Old Mill, Mount Barker SA, Watercolour File:George Whinnen - The Black Fan oil on canvas signed lower left GEORGE WHINNEN titled verso.jpg|George Whinnen - The Black Fan oil on canvas </gallery>{{Commons}}
== References == {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Whinnen, George}} Category:1891 births Category:1950 deaths Category:20th-century Australian painters Category:20th-century Australian male artists Category:People from Gawler, South Australia Category:Artists from South Australia Category:Australian male painters