George Morant

Born in 1934 during the Great Depression, George Morant was raised by relatives after being given up by his parents. He left home at fourteen and spent years moving through remote parts of Australia, taking on demanding jobs including farm work, forestry labour, prospecting, crocodile shooting, railway work, and time on the Snowy Mountains hydroelectric scheme.

During his years as an opal miner and dealer, he began painting without formal training. What started as an outlet for anger and reflection grew into a serious artistic practice, and by the 1970s he was exhibiting his work in Melbourne. Across his career, he held numerous solo shows and built a reputation as an outsider artist with a fiercely independent voice.

Morant’s work often returned to subjects that had marked him deeply: war, religion, political and social power, and the violent impact of white settlement on Australia and its Indigenous people. He died in 2020, leaving behind paintings remembered for their intensity, moral force, and unflinching view of history.