An intensely complicated artist, and a fiercely independent individual, Jon Molvig (1923–70) was a relentless innovator, and his visual experiments are both iconoclastic and provocative. Formidable, passionate and rebellious, Molvig purposely turned his back on the art centres of Sydney and Melbourne, choosing Brisbane but also agitating against the timid nature of its art scene at the time. With great energy, he worked through figure studies, portraits and landscapes, making radical stylistic shifts to suit his subject matter.