Victorine Foot facts for kids

Victorine Anne Foot (1920–2000) was a talented British artist. She worked with different art materials like oils, watercolours, and pastels. Victorine is best known for her special work during World War II. She helped design military camouflage to hide ships. After the war, she became a respected artist and teacher in Scotland.

Early Life and Art School

Victorine Anne Foot was born on May 1, 1920. Her home was in a place called Knowles Bank, near Pembury in Kent, England. She loved art from a young age. From 1938 to 1941, she studied at the Central School of Art in London.

Hiding Ships: Her War Work

Camouflaging a Cruiser in Dock (1943) by Victorine Foot. This painting shows how ships were hidden during the war.

When World War II started, things changed for everyone. In 1941, Victorine's art school moved away from London to Northampton. Victorine decided to stop her studies for a while. She took an important job helping the Navy.

She worked as a Junior Technical Assistant. Her job was in the Naval Section of the Directorate of Camouflage. This office was in Leamington Spa. Victorine's main task was to paint camouflage designs. She painted these designs onto small models of ships. These models were exact copies of real ships. If a real ship was sunk, its model was taken out of use.

While working there, Victorine also drew and painted her co-workers. She showed them busy at work, both in the office and at the docks. This is where they painted the camouflage patterns onto the actual ships. She sent some of her artwork to the War Artists' Advisory Committee. In June 1943, they bought one of her paintings. It was called Camouflaging a Cruiser in Dock.

Life After the War: Artist and Teacher

After the war ended, Victorine went back to studying art. She spent a short time at the Chelsea School of Art. Then, she moved to Edinburgh, Scotland. There, she married Eric Schilsky. He was also an artist, and she had met him during her camouflage work.

Eric Schilsky became the head of the School of Sculpture at Edinburgh College of Art. Victorine decided to study there too. She earned her art diploma in 1949.

In 1949, Victorine had her very first art show all by herself. It was at the Institute Francais in Edinburgh. She also showed her art in many other important places. These included the Royal Academy of Arts and the Royal Scottish Academy. A famous art critic, Jack Beddington, even wrote about her. He included her in his 1957 book, Young Artists of Promise.

Victorine also enjoyed teaching art. She taught at the Edinburgh College of Art in 1950 and 1951. Later, she taught at Oxenfoord Castle School in Midlothian for many years, from the 1960s to the 1970s.

In 1994, Victorine gave her wartime sketches to the Imperial War Museum. You can also find her artwork in the Aberdeen Art Gallery and the Scottish Arts Council.