Background
He was born in Gawler, South Australia, a son of John and Emily Whinnen, née McIntosh (died 1923).
He was born in Gawler, South Australia, a son of John and Emily Whinnen, née McIntosh (died 1923).
After attending the local primary school he secured a job with A. C. Follett & Company, drapers of Murray Street, Gawler. His family moved to Willaston, then to Broken Hill, where he worked for Don Tailors and took night classes in painting at the technical school. He took further classes at the East Sydney Technical School.
When he left Broken Hill for Adelaide around the end of 1924 a trophy for rifle marksmanship was named for him.
A few years later he was able to make art his full-time occupation. He studied under Fred Britton and attended life classes at the Adelaide School of Artist
He created a furore in 1940 when he removed a still life from an exhibition run by the R.S.A.S.A. in a protest against the judges. He was president of the Royal South Australian Society of Arts 1940–1950.
Also in 1940 he was appointed by the Education Department as teacher of drawing and painting from Life and Still Life.
The Museum commissioned him to paint a diorama for a major display of Central Australian wildlife. His Still Life and Autumn Flowers were once held by the Art Gallery of South Australia. George Whinnen married Gladys Hill Pearce (1891 – 8 December 1953) on 19 August 1919.
They had two daughters:
Jeanette (26 November 1922 – 8 June 2005) married Hugh Butterworth on 3 November 1951
Anne (23 September 1931 – ) married Richard Fidock 29 March 1952
They had a home at 5 Rowell Avenue, Glenunga.