Rosemary Ellis née Collinson (1910–1998) was a British artist, graphic designer and teacher known for her poster and book jacket designs.

Biography

Ellis was born in London and from 1927 to 1931 attended the art school of the

Regent Street Polytechnic The University of Westminster is a public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first polytechnic to open in London. The Polytechnic formally received a Royal charter in Aug ...

in central London. At art school she met her husband, Clifford Ellis, the couple married in 1931 and would frequently collaborate on art projects together. During the 1930s they produced more than twenty posters for London Transport, often using surrealist motifs, such as in the 1937 poster ''Travels in time on your doorstep''. They also designed posters for the General Post Office, BP, the

Empire Marketing Board The Empire Marketing Board was formed in May 1926 by the Colonial Secretary Leo Amery to promote intra-Empire trade and to persuade consumers to 'Buy Empire'. It was established as a substitute for tariff reform and protectionist legislation and ...

plus a series of 16 lithographs for J Lyons & Co restaurants. Starting in 1934 they designed the 'Professions' series of posters for

Shell-Mex & BP Shell-Mex and BP Ltd was a British joint venture between petroleum companies Royal Dutch Shell (Shell) and BP. It was formed in 1932 when both companies decided to merge their United Kingdom marketing operations,Reference and contact details: GB ...

including, for example, ''Anglers Prefer Shell''. They also worked together on book jackets, murals and mosaics, signing their work with the monogram ''C&RE'' to reflect their joint and equal involvement. From 1938 onwards, Rosemary Ellis taught art at the Royal School for Daughters of Officers of the Army in Bath while Clifford Ellis held a succession of posts at the

Bath Academy of Art Bath School of Art and Design is an art college in Bath, England, now known separately as Bath School of Art and Bath School of Design. It forms part of the Bath Spa University whose main campus is located a few miles from the City at Newton P ...

, where Rosemary would also teach a variety of subjects. During World War Two, Rosemary worked for the Recording Britain project, depicting architectural scenes in Bath. In 1946 the Ellises designed the entrance and a mural to the ''Britain Can Make It'' exhibition at the

Victoria & Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

. Between 1945 and 1982 they designed a total of 86 covers and dust jackets for the ''

New Naturalist The New Naturalist Library (also known as ''The New Naturalists'') is a series of books published by Collins in the United Kingdom, on a variety of natural history topics relevant to the British Isles. The aim of the series at the start was: "T ...

'' series of books and monographs published by

Collins Collins may refer to: People Surname Given name * Collins O. Bright (1917–?), Sierra Leonean diplomat * Collins Chabane (1960–2015), South African Minister of Public Service and Administration * Collins Cheboi (born 1987), Kenyan middle- ...

. The

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

, the London Transport Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum hold examples of Ellis' designs. The

Victoria Art Gallery The Victoria Art Gallery is a public art museum in Bath, Somerset, England. It was opened in 1900 to commemorate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee. It is a Grade II* listed building and houses over 1,500 objects of art including a collection of ...

and Bath Record Office hold archives of Ellis' papers and designs.

References

External links

Works by Rosemary and Clifford Ellis in the London Transport Museum collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellis, Rosemary 1910 births 1998 deaths 20th-century English painters 20th-century English women artists Alumni of the Regent Street Polytechnic Artists from London British poster artists English illustrators English women painters 20th-century women painters