Morten Morland

Morten Morland
Morland in 2025
BornMorten Mørland
1979 (age 46–47)
Tromøya, Norway
NationalityNorwegian
Area(s)Political cartoonist, artist
PseudonymPoldraw
AwardsPolitical Cartoon Society Cartoon of the Year (2005; 2008; 2013; 2017)
Cartoon Art Trust Political Cartoonist of the Year (2009)
Cartoonist of the Year, The Press Awards (2015, 2020, 2023)
Norsk Journalistlag Newspaper Cartoonist of the Year (2023)
Fritt Ord Award (2025)

Morten Mørland (born 1979)[1] is a Norwegian political cartoonist working in the United Kingdom.[1] His work regularly appears in The Times, and previously The Spectator. He has won several British and Norwegian cartoon awards.

Career

Since 2002, his work is regularly featured in The Times newspaper,[2][1] as well as other newspapers, magazines, and television,[1] including The Spectator cover[3][4] for 15 years until 2024,[5] GQ, and The Economist in the UK, and VG and Agderposten (where he began his career in 2000)[6] in Norway.[4] He works in pen and ink[4] and is influenced by Kevin Kallaugher.[1]

Morland's 2004 cartoon satirisng the Israeli–Palestinian peace process adapted James Gillray's 18th-century cartoon "Sin, Death, and the Devil", presenting the viewer with "a parody of an eighteenth-century parody of Milton’s seventeenth-century poem".[7] One of his favourite subjects was Prime Minister Gordon Brown.[6] A 2022 The Times cartoon showed Russians invading Ukraine bouncing off President Zelenskyy.[8]

Recognition

His work has won several awards: Political Cartoon Society Cartoon of the Year (2005; 2008; 2013; 2017),[9][10][11] Cartoon Art Trust Political Cartoonist of the Year (2009),[1][12][6][13] and Cartoonist of the Year at The Press Awards three times (2015, 2020, and 2023);[5][14] he was shortlisted in 2026.[15] He won the Norwegian Norsk Journalistlag Newspaper Cartoonist of the Year in 2023 for "Rødt" in VG, showing Bjørnar Moxnes as the Pied Piper,[16] for its caricature and political sting.[17][18] He jointly won the 2025 Fritt Ord Foundation Prize with May Linn Clement and Marvin Halleraker.[19]

Norwegian museum Avistegnernes Hus held an exhibition of his work in 2023 to mark twenty years of him working for The Times.[4] "Licence to Offend", an exhibition of political cartoons included Morland's work at the Colony Room Green drinking club in London from September to October 2025, following its cancellation earlier that year at a venue in Kingston upon Thames due to concerns about safety.[20][21]

Early life and education

Morland grew up in Tromøya[4] in Norway.[1] He studied journalism at Mediehøgskolen Gimlekollen.[4] He moved to London in 2000 to study.[4] He has a degree in graphic design from Surrey Institute of Art and Design (2003).[1] He got a job at The Times after he interviewed Peter Brookes for his thesis on the history of British newspaper cartoons.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Morten Morland". British Cartoon Archive - biographies. University of Kent.
  2. ↑ "Cartoons". The Times. Mar 2015.
  3. ↑ Gal, Hannah (11 March 2021). "Morten Morland on satirising the news". Creative Review.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Morten Mørland 20 år i The Times". Avistegnernes hus (in Norwegian). MiA. 2023.
  5. 1 2 Gardner, Alan (October 9, 2024). "Morten Morland leaves The Spectator after 15 years". Daily Cartoonist.
  6. 1 2 3 Svozilik, Irene (20 November 2009). "Ny prestisjepris til Mørland". FVN (in Norwegian).
  7. ↑ Taylor, David Francis (27 June 2018). "Political Cartoons in the Digital Age". Yale University Press.
  8. ↑ "Memes and cartoons in times of war". Frontline. Deutsche Welle. 11 March 2022. Archived from the original on 2024-05-28.
  9. ↑ Buck, Matthew (11 December 2008). "PCOer Morten Morland wins political cartoonist of the year". Professional Cartoonists' Organisation.
  10. ↑ Kowalska, Kasia (6 December 2013). "Politics and plebs at awards bash". Professional Cartoonists' Organisation.
  11. ↑ "Political Cartoon of the Year Awards winners announced". PubAffairs. 24 November 2017.
  12. ↑ Royston (19 November 2009). "Cartoon award winners 2009 announced". Professional Cartoonists' Organisation.
  13. ↑ Kleiberg, Gunnar (20 November 2009). "Norsk tegner vant prestisjepris". NRK (in Norwegian).
  14. ↑ "Press Awards 2020 – winners announced". inPublishing. 16 July 2021.
  15. ↑ "Winners 2026". The Press Awards.
  16. ↑ Fjellheim, Martin (22 March 2023). "Årets Avistegning til Morten Mørland". M24 (in Norwegian).
  17. ↑ "Årets avistegning til Morten Mørland". NJ (in Norwegian). 22 March 2023.
  18. ↑ Fauconnier, Morgane (23 March 2023). "Morten Mørland har vunnet mange utenlandske priser: – Mer stas å få norsk pris". Journalisten (in Norwegian).
  19. ↑ "The Fritt Ord Foundation Prize for 2025 goes to satirical artists May Linn Clement, Marvin Halleraker and Morten Mørland". Fritt Ord Foundation. 29 April 2025.
  20. ↑ Luckhurst, Georgia (20 August 2025). "Political cartoons exhibition axed over safety concerns revived at Soho drinking club". Arts Professional. Archived from the original on 2025-08-21.
  21. ↑ Steerpike (30 April 2025). "Cartoon exhibition cancelled after art deemed too political". The Spectator.
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