Exhibition celebrating Minnie the Minx artist

Published On Mon 1 Jun 2015 by Grant Hill

An exhibition celebrating the work of the late Beano artist Jim Petrie opens at the University of Dundee’s Lamb Gallery this week.

Jim, who died last year, was best known for being the man who drew the "world's wildest tomboy" Minnie the Minx in the famous comic for 40 years. The exhibition, which has been created with the support of Jim's family and DC Thomson & Co Ltd, who have lent material for display, opens to the public on Wednesday, 3rd June.

Curator Matthew Jarron said, “We’ll be showing many of Jim’s classic Minnie the Minx artworks but also examples of his other comics work for Sparky, The Dandy and others. Jim was also a very talented painter who exhibited regularly with Dundee Art Society, and some of his paintings will also be on show, revealing the full range of his artistic talents.”

The son of a weaver and a lorry driver, Jim Petrie was born in Kirriemuir where he attended Webster’s Seminary before enrolling at Dundee College of Art (now Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design) in 1950. He went on to become a popular art teacher Kirkton High School before he began submitting work to publishers DC Thomson and had his first Minnie the Minx strip published in June 1961. Jim became the regular Minnie artist the following year and went on to draw a total of 2000 weekly strips, turning the character into a national favourite.

The exhibition runs until 19th September and will be open from 9.30am-8.30pm on weekdays and from 9.30am-4.30pm on Saturdays.

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Grant Hill
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University of Dundee
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