The Tree of Man Paintings Jon Molvig
Bruce Heiser
Jon Molvig settled in Brisbane in the mid-1950s, where he became an influential creative presence and produced the most accomplished works of his career. In turn provocative, empathetic, taciturn, and vulnerable, he remains one of his generations least understood artists. Particularly recognised for highly charged, energetic paintings influenced by European expressionism, in the final decade of his life Molvig pursued sparser imagery, culminating in a series of canvasses - the Tree of Man (1967-1968). Meticulously researched and richly illustrated, Jon Molvig: The Tree of Man Paintings examines the background and symbolism of this misunderstood bracket of works produced just prior to the artist's premature death in 1970.