Reference: see Australian Sculptors and Artworks in Three Dimensions, “( One Man’s Collection – A Personal Journey )” by David James Angeloro. (Excerpt of a draft July, 2020. An eBook by David Angeloro.
SHILLAM, LEONARD GEORGE (AM)
[ Queensland, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory, United Kingdom, USA ]
BORN: 15th August 1915 at Brisbane, Queensland DIED: 1st September 2005 at Brisbane, Queensland
Leonard Shillam was a sculptor (modeller, carver and caster), sculpture teacher, painter (primarily in watercolours), graphic artist, art lecturer, art critic and poultry farmer. He was primarily known as a modeller in clay and caster in bronze and brass, and a carver of exotic woods and stone, his figure and animal studies in tabletop and monumental sizes being his best- known pieces. His parents were William John Shillam [1882-1951] and Mabel Griffith [1882- 1949], Leonard having two siblings (Gwyneth [1911-1994] and Harold William [1917-1970] Shillam). On 1st September 1942, Leonard Shillam married English-born Kathleen O’Neill [1916-2002], who was also a sculptor and artist, having met while studying at Brisbane Technical College.
Leonard Shillam attended Brisbane Grammar School (1928-1930) before receiving his artistic training at Brisbane’s Central Technical College (1931-1936) under F.J. Martyn Roberts [1871-1963]. In 1934, Leonard was awarded the Godfrey Rivers Medal which was awarded to the highest achieving art student. Later in his career, Shillam taught art, becoming Head of the Sculpture Department at Brisbane’s College of Art and in 1975, was the first instructor in sculpture at the Queensland College of Art
Between 1934 and 1936, Leonard Shillam was employed as a designer in a silkscreen poster studio while still studying at the Technical College. On 29th April 1938, he was awarded the £400 ($2,000) Carnegie Institute Travelling Grant, which enabled him to continue his studies in England, arriving in September 1938. In London, he studied life modelling at the Westminster School, Central School of Arts and Crafts and under British modernist sculptors John Skeaping [1901-1980] and Henry Moore [1898-1986]. At the outbreak of World War II, Shillam decided to return to Australia, arriving on 26th November 1939 aboard the SS Themistocles.
In 1935, along with Francis Lymburner and Will Smith, they formed the nucleus of a small studio group to draw at the Victory Chambers, Adelaide Street, Brisbane. In 1937, Leonard developed an interest in sculpture and began to sculpt with a set of tools borrowed from sculptress Daphne Mayo, and a slab of stone given by a sympathetic stone mason. In October 1947, Leonard and Kathleen Shillam had a joint exhibition of modern sculpture at Albert House and in July 1949 at Moreton Gallery in Brisbane. In November 1949, Leonard’s sculpture was shown alongside Tom Bass, Lyndon Dadswell, Margel Hinder, Gerald Lewer and Daphne Mayo in Sydney’s David Jones’ Art Gallery. In December 1950, a number of his wood carvings were exhibited at the Rockefeller Center in New York City with other contemporary Australian sculptors and the following year at the Botanical Gardens in Sydney.
In early 1940s and 1950s, Leonard and Kathleen Shillam were members of the Half- Dozen Group and Brisbane Group of Artists. In 1968, they founded the Society of Sculptures Queensland, and also the Queensland Society of Sculptors and the Queensland Wildlife Artists Society. In 1980, Leonard and Kathleen Shillam set up a bronze casting foundry in their studio and until 1987 cast all their own smaller scaled works. On 21st March 1987, they were involved in a serious car accident that curtailed but did not end their careers as sculptors.
In mid-1950s, Leonard and Kathleen Shillam commenced exhibiting with the Society of Sculptors and in 1976, were awarded life membership of the Society of Sculptors, Queensland. In January 1986, they were appointed Members of the Order of Australia (AM). In December 2000, they were awarded Honorary Doctor of Philosophy for services to the arts, notably sculpture, from the University of Queensland.
COLLECTIONS: Queensland Art Gallery; Art Gallery of NSW; Darnell Art Collection at University of Queensland.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Leonard and Kathleen Shillam: A Tribute by Glen R. Cooke; Queensland Art Gallery; Brisbane’ 1995 Shillam Sculpture by Leonard and Kathleen Shillam; Brisbane; 2000
Formative Years: Four Art Students in 1930s Brisbane (William Smith, Leonard Shillam, Kathleen Shillam, Francis Lymburner) by Kathleen Shillam; Brisbane; 1997
Forms entwined: The life story of sculptors Leonard & Kathleen Shillam by Dorothy Hartnett; Brisbane; 1996
MEDIA SOURCES: Courier Mail (14th December 1934; 23rd November 1935; 23rd November 1936; 13th March 1939; 3rd April 1940; 16th February 1942; 11th July 1949); Daily Standard (14th January 1935); Brisbane Telegraph (21st November 1936; 29th April 1938; 10th March 1939; 26th September 1940; 31st October 1947; 11th July 1949; 30th January 1950; 10th November 1951); Sunday Mail (10th July 1949); Sydney Sun (1st November 1949); Sydney Morning Herald (7th December 1950); Sydney’s Daily Telegraph (4th November 1951); Canberra Times (6th October 1966; 25th January 1986); Papua New Guinea Post-Courier (3rd October 1969)
[Works from the David Angeloro Sculpture Collection were sold at Davidson Auctions, Fine Art, featuring the David Angeloro Collection of Australian Sculpture, Sunday August 16th, 2020]. [Information on artists included in this publication has been included in the Scheding Index]
Publishing details: Published online August 2020.
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