Authors : Hamish Keith,
Elizabeth, Hana and Ngarino Ellis
Contributions from Ian Sinclair, Tasha Haines and Stephen Higginson
Designed by Mei Ling Lee
300 x 300mm hardcover with French-fold jacket
312 pages with 3 foldouts
250 full colour plates of his paintings, prints, medallions, stained glass windows and a magnificent tapestry
120 photographs of family & friends
Standard Edition $95 + p&p
printed on 150gsm paper
Motorways on the book cover
Collectors' Edition $295
Only 100 signed and numbered
Printed on 170gsm paper contained in a slipcase with four Art Prints (300 x 300mm)
Fish on the book cover
Only available from Ron Sang Publications
Robert Ellis ONZM is one of the pre-eminent artists in New Zealand with a career extending over 65 years. He is a graduate of the Royal College of Art, London and began exhibiting his work publicly during that time. He served for two years in the RAF Royal Air Force as a photographer with 3 Group Bomber Command. He taught for several years at the Yeovil School of Art before taking up a senior lectureship at the Elam School of Fine Arts, the University of Auckland in 1957. He was awarded a personal chair at the University, and retired as an Emeritus Professor in 1994. During those years he held over 60 solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group shows. He continues to be actively involved in producing works for exhibition. Robert and his wife live in Auckland, in the same street as their daughters and grandchildren.
The book has 312 pages, and there are 230 stunning images of his paintings, complemented by his prints, medallions, stained glass windows, a magnificent tapestry and bound together with intimate photographs of his family and friends. The sheer volume of artworks included in the book, speak for themselves. Many of them have not been seen in public for years, if not decades and the authors are grateful to the many collectors, both public and private, who opened their doors to be part of this project.
His long time friend Hamish Keith writes about Robert’s experience of New Zealand within an artistic context. An essay by his wife Elizabeth and daughters Hana and Ngarino describes his relationship with Māori and provides a greater depth of understanding of the issues he confronts in his paintings. Included are critical reviews of Robert’s changing work from the time of his first New Zealand exhibition at the Auckland Society of Arts (ASA) in 1959 to the present.
This is a uniquely bicultural art book and offers a fascinating slice of the art history of Aotearoa New Zealand.