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Peter Ellenshaw (1913-2007), whose artistic career spanned more than seven decades, was considered the premier seascape and landscape artist of his generation, motion picture art director, Academy Award winning special effects artist and official Disney Legend. Peter Ellenshaw started life as an auto mechanic at the age of 14, Peter Ellenshaw simultaneously developed his artistic talent by constantly painting and drawing. Born in London, England in 1913, Peter Ellenshaw was fortunate enough in his early twenties to get a job as an apprentice to W. Percy Day, O.B.E., the British film industry’s foremost special effects artist and matte painter. Matte shots are realistic paintings done on glass of extended sets or fantasy locations which are combined with scenes of actors in real sets. Day, the Royal Academy trained artist, took Peter Ellenshaw under his wing, working on such classics as Things to Come, The Thief of Baghdad and Black Narcissus. After serving in the Second World War as a pilot for the Royal Air Force, Peter returned to the film industry as a matte artist for MGM's Quo Vadis. In the late 1940s Walt Disney approached Ellenshaw to work on the studio's first live action feature, Treasure Island. Thus began a professional collaboration and friendship which lasted over 30 years and 34 films earning him 5 Oscar nominations, winning for his work on Mary Poppins. In 1953, Peter Ellenshaw and his family moved to California and Peter Ellenshaw found himself expanding upon his matte painting work to contribute to the dramatic and spectacular special effects on Disney's epic film 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The Walt Disney Studio was also in the pre-planning stages for Disneyland. Peter Ellenshaw contributed his artistic touch to many of the attractions at the new theme park, including the first Circlevision theater show, TWA's Rocket Ship to the Moon and X-1 Satellite View of America. It was in the 50s that Peter Ellenshaw fell in love with the ocean and would spend weekends painting the picturesque coves and crashing waves along the California coast. Peter Ellenshaw developed a reputation as a fine art painter whose oils soon became highly sought after by collectors. Peter Ellenshaw also began a lifelong association with the prestigious Hammer Galleries in New York. Continued travels took Peter Ellenshaw to many spectacular locales where he expanded his subjects to include the Himalayas, Monet's garden at Giverny, the Mojave desert, San Francisco and New York cityscapes, America's Cup yachting, and famous golf courses throughout the world. In 1993, Peter Ellenshaw was officially designated a 'Disney Legend' at the Walt Disney Studios in a ceremony presided over by CEO Michael Eisner and Roy E. Disney. It was shortly thereafter that he was commissioned to do paintings of scenes from famous Disney features, many of which have been made into the wonderful giclées that you see here at our website. In February of 2007, Peter Ellenshaw passed away peacefully at his home in Santa Barbara, California. He was 93 years of age. Peter Ellenshaw’s work is represented in both public and private collections worldwide.
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