Monet's Garden

Peter Ellenshaw (1913 - 2007)

About your purchase...

Purchases outside the continental US - please call for shipping rates
New York state residents are charged sales tax

The work(s) of art is/are sold by the Seller and purchased by the buyer upon the following terms and conditions:

1. Except as otherwise provided herein or elsewhere agreed in writing, payment in full is due and payable on the date of the invoice.

2. This is an invoice only. Title to the work(s) of art purchased shall not pass until payment in full has been received.

3. All applicable sales taxes have been charged on this transaction. The payment and remittance of use tax is the Buyer’s obligation. Seller reserves the right to collect out-of-state sales taxes from the buyer after the sale if seller becomes assessed with them.

4. The Buyer’s sole remedy for breach of any implied or express warranty therein shall be an action for rescission and, in any event, the absolute limit of the Seller’s liability and responsibility hereunder shall under no circumstances exceed the total sales price and seller shall not be responsible for any special, incidental, or consequential damages or lost profits.

5. A non-exclusive right to reproduce the work(s) of art is reserved by the Seller.

6. Risk or loss of the work(s) of art purchased shall pass to the Buyer upon delivery by the Seller to the address specified by the Buyer.

7. In accordance with the UCC and the New York Arts and Cultural Affairs Law, Seller guarantees that the work(s) of art purchased is by the named artist. If such work(s) proves not to be of such authorship as described, Seller will accept the return of the work(s) and return the sales price in full.

8. Any disputes arising out of this sale shall be governed by the laws of the State of New York without regard to its choice of law provisions, and shall be submitted to the American Arbitration Association for an arbitration to be held before a single arbitrator in New York City, New York. The prevailing party in such arbitration shall be entitled to its costs and attorneys’ fees in connection with such arbitration proceeding, and the costs of enforcement and collection of any resulting arbitral award.

EXCEPT FOR THE WARRANTY OF AUTHENTICITY SET FORTH ABOVE, NO WARRANTIES OR AGREEMENTS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, HAVE BEEN MADE BY THE SELLER.

SOLD

Peter Ellenshaw

(1913 - 2007)

Monet's Garden

Acrylic on canvas

36 x 63 inches

Framed dimensions:
43.5 x 70.5 inches

Signed and dated '83

Provenance

The artist
Hammer Galleries, New York, NY
Private collection
Rehs Galleries, Inc., New York

BIOGRAPHY

Peter Ellenshaw was a British artist who was mainly known for his work in the film industry. Ellenshaw was born in Britain in 1913. After failing to pass grammar school entrance exams, he went to work at a mechanic’s garage at the age of 14. He spent his spare time drawing and painting. It wasn’t long before he met Walter Percy Day, a special effects artist who had moved across the street from his family. Day had been working on films in France, including Abel Gance’s historical epic Napoléon. Day began to serve as a mentor to Ellenshaw. The two were drawn closer after Ellenshaw’s mother began working as Day housekeeper, leading to their marriage. By 1940, Ellenshaw had worked on several films, including The Thief of Baghdad, Britain’s first technicolor film. After serving in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, Ellenshaw returned to cinema, specializing in matte paintings. These are paintings typically made on glass panels and frequently used to provide backgrounds and other effects for live-action films. These techniques were utilized as late as the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in fantasy and science-fiction films like the original Star Wars trilogy.

Ellenshaw was an assistant matte artist on several films in the late 1940s and early 1950s, including Quo Vadis and Black Narcissus. However, he is best known for his work at Walt Disney Pictures. In 1947, Disney began work on Treasure Island, hiring Ellenshaw to create backgrounds and camera tricks. The production could only hire one sailing ship, but Ellenshaw’s matte paintings filled in the rest, recreating the eighteenth-century Caribbean entirely in Britain. Ellenshaw remained with Disney, moving to California to work on special effects for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Davy Crockett, Old Yeller, and The Swiss Family Robinson. He also took work outside of Disney, most notably on Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus. However, he gained the most recognition in 1964, when he and two of his colleagues won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for their work on Mary Poppins. Ellenshaw helped create over a hundred matte paintings to bring Edwardian London to life on the screen. He became close friends with Walt Disney, whose 1966 death hit him particularly hard.

After Disney’s passing, Ellenshaw worked on fewer films, instead focusing on a new career painting landscapes. He still went back and created special effects paintings for various films, including Bedknobs & Broomsticks in 1971 as well as Dick Tracy in 1990. Because of his association with the film industry, Ellenshaw’s work is incredibly popular among cinema buffs and Disney fans. He was named a Disney Legend in 1993 alongside Clarence Nash, the original voice of Donald Duck. Ellenshaw passed away in 2007 at the age of 94.

AVAILABLE WORKS

Browse by Artist