llingworth hit the publicity jackpot in 1965 when his As Adam and Eve painting of two nude figures offended, according to a newspaper report, "an elderly man and woman" visiting the Barry Lett Galleries in Victoria St. They filed an obscenity complaint with the police, who asked (and were refused) that the painting be removed, and destroyed… Then sent photos of the offending work to the Attorney-General, who sensibly took no action. He was the recipient in 1966, of the first Frances Hodgkins Fellowship from the University of Otago. The asexual Tawera is an image that has occurred often in Illingworth's work I find the stylised portrayal of the almost idyllic landscape that Illingworth feels this country is.