JOHN JENSEN (BORN 1930)

THAT'S WHAT I LIKE ABOUT SHOOTING - IT TRANSCENDS ALL BARRIERS!

John Jensen was born in Sydney, Australia on 8 August 1930, the son of the cartoonist Jack Gibson. He studied at the Julian Ashton Art School, Sydney (1946-47) and adopted the name of Jensen when he began to contribute cartoons to such publications as Australia National Journal, Pertinent and the Sydney Sun.

Moving to Britain in 1950, Jensen became pocket cartoonist on the Birmingham Gazette (1952-55) and the Glasgow Bulletin (1955-58) before returning to London to freelance for Lilliput, the London Evening News and the Daily Express. He became political cartoonist on the Sunday Telegraph at its inception in 1961, and remained with the paper for eighteen years. In the same period, he drew the series of social cartoons entitled ‘The Quality of Life’ for the Spectator (1973-76) and theatrical caricatures for the Tatler (1973-77). He has also produced political cartoons and a ‘talking-head’ strip for Now! magazine (1979-81), and television caricatures and sports illustrations for Punch (from 1972 until its closure twenty years later). He has produced several books, and has illustrated nearly seventy more.

An expert in the history of his own field, Jensen was a founder, trustee and sometime Chairman of the Cartoon Art Trust, and is Chairman of the British Cartoonists’ Association. In 1996, he curated a major exhibition of the work of Will Dyson, and both wrote and designed its accompanying catalogue. His own work has appeared in a number of exhibitions, including the greatly successful show, ‘John Jensen’s Showbiz’ held at Chris Beetles Gallery in 1990.

Jensen’s work is represented in collections of the Ashmolean Museum The Victoria & Albert Museum, The British Museum, The Cartoon Study Centre at the University of Kent at Canterbury; Sammlung Karikaturen & Cartoons, Basel; Muzeum Karykatury, Warsaw; National Museum of Australia, and the Rugby Museum.

JOHN JENSEN (BORN 1930)

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