The Best Of Colour And Design

An exhibition of the work of Marion Hall Best was recently on display at Bathurst Regional Art Gallery. The exhibition, entitled Marion Hall Best: Interiors, is a touring exhibition from Sydney Living Museums. The textiles, furnishings and other objet showcased document an extraordinary life in design.

Best was a visionary in her time, a radical designer and her work was often described as electrifying and avant-garde. Best’s interior decorating schemes were unashamedly modern at a time when other interior designers preferred a subdued palette and period furniture.

Her interior decorating style was filled with colour through her signature glazed painted finishes on walls and ceilings and this love of colour would transform a room. Although she designed mostly private commissions, Best’s work was brought to public attention through the many photographs and articles that appeared in magazines, newspaper and through exhibitions. Best also maintained two shops in Queen Street, Woollahra and was a design presence in Sydney for more than 20 years.

She was inspired by the modernist movement and colour theory of artists of the interwar years and is attributed with introducing international modernism to the Australian market through the importation of furniture and furnishings from such brands as Marimekko, Flos and Knoll. Best was a maverick of her time and the resurgence of her popularity is well overdue.

Photo: A room for Mary Quant, display room designed by Marion Best, 1967. Caroline Simpson Library & Research Collection, Sydney Living Museums. Photo © Estate of Mary White.