New Information
The purpose of this section is to make available new information about Edwin Ellis that has come to light since the publication of the original biography in 2012. New and updated information will also be added to the Appendices page.
The purpose of this section is to make available new information about Edwin Ellis that has come to light since the publication of the original biography in 2012. New and updated information will also be added to the Appendices page.
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Oil Studies
Edwin Ellis produced a considerable number of pictures during his lifetime, many of which are now in public collections or have appeared in auctions and galleries throughout the UK. The common feature of all of these pictures is that they are finished works. It is, therefore, particularly interesting and unusual to find a series of oil studies by Edwin Ellis that have remained as preparatory sketches. The studies shown adjacent were likely to have been painted on the same day and in the open air. They have clearly been painted quickly to capture the features and position of the women who look to be involved in the fishing trade, possibly collecting cockles or mussels. Typically of Ellis, the figures have been painted without detail and using a predominately green and brown palette with a dash of red or white. The colours are a little blurred suggesting that the studies may have been done at the end of a day’s painting when the paints on his palette had started to blend. Each of the studies is inscribed on the front or reverse as by Edwin Ellis. It is likely that the studies were intended as preparatory sketches for later use in a wider composition. However, none of Ellis’s recorded pictures show the figures in the same form, although the characteristics can be seen in several works, for example Figure 24 in the Biography: Mussel Gatherers. The studies have been in the same family since the late nineteenth century. They were originally owned by Frank William King, an artists’ colourman and framemaker who lived at 18 Cleveland St, Fitzroy Square, London from 1880-1889 and 24 Great Titchfield St, London from 1890. Edwin Ellis lived and worked in the same area of London during this period. No direct connection between the two men has come to light, but it is quite possible that Frank King supplied Edwin Ellis with paints and picture frames. On this basis, Frank King may well have acquired the studies directly from Edwin Ellis. Author: Stephen Hickford |
