Design and Art Australia Online

cartoonist, was born and bred in Melbourne. After completing secondary school, he began studying architecture at RMIT, but joined up in 1940. He spent the last years of WWII in New Guinea as an infantryman and made his first artistic income painting Japanese flags (in partnership with an American-born Japanese interpreter), which sold for up to $40 each as 'authentic’ souvenirs to American G.I.s. Weg drew the rising son and his partner did the wording. He also drew cartoons for his mates, some of which were published. Not to be confused with 'WOG’, acknowledged as Sapper Green W.O. (William Oliver Green) /HQRAE/9 Aust. 28/9/44 on back of original cartoon at Mitchell Library PX*DY66/78.

Green returned to Melbourne in 1946 and started a rehab. art course at the National Gallery of Victoria: “I wasn’t a great success there”, he told Pat Hinton, editor of the Herald (in preface to Weg’s World): “Bill (later Sir William) Dargie advised me to go away and learn to draw. I’m still learning.” He began submitting cartoons to the Melbourne Herald and was hired as a replacement cartoonist when Sammy [S.G.] Wells went on holidays. In 1947 he joined the Herald as an illustrator, becoming a full-time 'Topical News Cartoonist’ and/or 'Australia's first pocket cartoonist’ two years later. He remained in the job for 40 years then turned to free-lancing.

'Weg’ was an outstanding joke deviser (acc. Blaikie, 109), e.g. anti-modern art joke showing prize-winning 'Hunk of Junk’ at Sculptors Society Exhibition 1969: “I got it like that from the quarry” (ill. Lindesay 1979, 311). Also original 1960s cartoon at Mitchell Library [ML] PXD 764. He drew lots of cartoons for Man (December 1936-May 1974), e.g. “All right, stop crying and tell mother just where you buried the portable radio” n.d. (ill. Lindesay, Way We Were, 143); girl in bed on phone surrounded by wild oats: “Said he’d reap them later!” April 1946, 45.

His caricature of Henry Bolte was published in Nation Review in the early 1970s (Walsh 1993, 38). He apparently had cartoons in the Sydney Morning Herald in the 1980s, e.g. Election Melbourne 1 December 1984 (included by Christine Dixon, not ill?), and in the New York Times. Three original cartoons done for the Bulletin dated 25 June and 2 July 1985 – including cartoons about the ABC – are at ML PXD 739, and the SLV has at least 15 Melbourne Herald originals (under 'WEG’), e.g. CARNA CATS CARNA ROOS CARNA PIGS 1980s (re VFL). Several Weg anthologies have been published.

Writers:

Kerr, Joan

Date written:

1996

Last updated:

2007