Design and Art Australia Online

cartoonist and illustrator, was born on a farm in Halmstad, Sweden, on 13 December 1890. Aged 18, he became a sailor, painting pictures of ships for his mates in his spare time. After nine years at sea, he jumped ship at New Zealand in 1915, worked in cold stores for a while then came to Australia in March 1917. He went timbercutting in Queensland in 1918. While working as a high rigger on the White Bay wheat silos in Sydney he decided to become an art student, studied full-time with J.S. Watkins in 1918-20 and was employed as an assistant instructor after a year. Then he worked as a commercial artist and freelance cartoonist. Some of his earliest drawings were published in Aussie in the early 1920s.

Jonsson joined Smith’s Weekly in 1924, where he did most of the horse gags and shipwrecked sailor sequences (see Caban, 42 for horse comic-strip illustration). Other topics are: 'Mum: “There certainly are some people with queer tastes in Sydney, but I don’t know what she could see in him” (black man carrying a white women’s baby), Smith’s 8 March 1924; construction worker jokes, eg two falling off tall building, “We’ll be stiff if we don’t get compensation out of this” 22 May 1926; 'Labourer: “Who strung the foreman up?”/ Dogman: “'E was demonstrating the 'ang-man’s knot when I accidentally coughed in me whistle” 22 March 1930. An original cartoon collected by Thomas Finch Roy Ottaway (ML PXD 619) – 'Shopkeeper: “Swear! Oh no I can assure you he doesn’t.” Lady: “That’s good, me and me old man will 'ave no end of fun teachin’ im to”’ n.d. [1930s?] – was probably done for Smith’s . Another cartoon in the Ottaway collection signed 'J.J.’ of a man and woman, burglar and policeman, boss and office boy may also be by Jonsson. At Smith’s the Dorothy Dix type character Bertha Blitter was created by Kenneth Slessor and drawn by Jonsson (Dutton, p.126). His original Smith’s cartoon, 'New hand – Get back to bed, sir, you’re walking in your sleep’, was presented to ML (PXD 840) in 1999 by the wife of a former reporter, along with 20+ other originals by Smith’s artists and a copy of the final issue (28 October 1950) signed by all the cartoonists (see PICMAN). A prisoner and warder gag, evidently done for Smith’s , is held in private collection.

Jonsson was a foundation member of the Society of Australian Black and White Artists in 1924, along with 24 other male cartoonists, mainly from Sydney. All 25 contributed to the Society’s first publication commemorating the visit of the US Fleet in 1925 (see Harry J. Weston ). On 14 February 1927, he married the Sydney-born art student Agnes Mary McIntyre at Bondi Presbyterian manse. They lived at Wahroonga with a dog, horse and numerous cats. Joe liked gardening and woodcarving. During the 1930s Depression he donated ten pounds a week from his pay to the coalminers.

According to Smith’s (20 April 1935, 26) Jonsson was the most popular of its cartoonists 'on the Continent’ (its jokes were being increasingly syndicated overseas), 'judged by the frequency with which his work is reprinted and flatteringly acknowledged… [I]n his leisure [time] he loves to paint delicate water colors of Sydney scenes… But he has a passion for the grotesque, which he expresses hilariously in pen and ink.’ Standardisation in Smith’s (1933) depicts a large family sharing similar features and the same style of hat.

Beattie said Jonsson was enormously powerful and reckless, with a humped back. When Smith’s expired in 1950 he was the only early artist still on the staff. He moved to the Sydney production unit of the Courier Mail (Brisbane), while also doing comic strips for Sir Keith Murdoch’s Herald and Weekly Times (February 1951 to March 1963). In 1951 he created the most successful horse comic strip in Australian newspaper history for the Courier Mail , 'Uncle Joe’s Horse Radish’ (an original strip is in AGWA, acq. From Sun-Herald newspapers). The strip was carried on by the Courier Mail 's political cartoonist Ian Gall after Joe died at Sydney on 19 March 1963. His wife, son and daughter survived him.

Lindesay (1979, 45) notes that Jonsson’s drawings look as if they had been done with a toothbrush yet have tremendous dash and zest. He was famous for his jokes about drunks ('blottos’). Sir John Longstaff called Jonsson the finest black-and-white artist Australia has produced, to which Joe commented: 'Fancy that! And me a bletty Swede too!’ (Blaikie, 78).

Jonsson’s cartoons include 'The man who beat Lang to the tape’, Smith’s Weekly , published 19 March 1932, 14, headed 'Forecast of the unrehearsed bridge incident’ and accompanied by a story that reports the New Guard leader Colonel Eric Campbell said the week before that Lang would not open the bridge (original drawing in de Groot Papers ML *D143).

Jonsson’s portrait is included in line-up by Frank Dunne captioned 'Seeing’s Believing – “Smith’s” Artists On Parade’ 30 July 1932, 7, with description: 'JOE JONSSON draws horses that never were on sea or land or racecourse. Joe comes from the north of Europe. Where he is going is not certain. On paper, Joe has two children, Oigle and Goigle, not that that matters.’ Self-portrait with watering-can, Smith’s Weekly 15 April 1933, 3 (with joke biography by Kenneth Slessor captioned 'Jonsson, Joe, at work on his Warramurra ranch’).

Writers:

Kerr, Joan

Date written:

1996

Last updated:

2007