A Shillito Student Portfolio from the Mid-1940’s

This image shows the complete set of boards from a remarkable portfolio of colour exercises and notes produced at the East Sydney Technical College (now the National Art School, Sydney) by Helen Jean Burgess (1926-2018) while she was a student in the Design diploma course in 1943-47. The portfolio is important as an early record of the colour curriculum of Phyllis Sykes Shillito (1895 – 1980), who was a major influence on colour design education in Australia from the 1920’s to the 1970’s, and on subsequent colour education in Australia, including my own teaching. The following link outlines the  conclusions of a detailed study undertaken jointly with President of the Colour Society of Australia Dr David Briggs that was published in 2022.  To read the whole paper, click here.