Clifford Ellis Ice Age

Clifford Ellis was born in Bognor in Sussex and trained at Saint Martin’s School of Art and Regent Street Polytechnic. He was a graphic artist and illustrator who is best known for the posters he produced for London Transport during the 1930s. Ellis generally collaborated on posters with his wife, Rosemary, whom he married in 1931. The General Post Office, Shell and the Empire Marketing Board were also clients for the couple's posters. They signed their posters C&RE, their initials being in alphabetical order, and they are readily recognizable by their ebullient use of color and form. 

Employed during the war as a camoufleur, along with so many other artists, Ellis was also an official war artist, serving with the Grenadier Guards. Rosemary, meanwhile, was an artist for the Recording Britain project. Following the war, they trained art teachers at the Bath Academy of Art. They also designed a series of nearly 100 book jackets for the New Naturalist series, published by Collins between 1945–82, and were always fascinated by animals and natural history.

Revitalize your interiors — introduce drawings and watercolor paintings to your home to evoke emotions, stir conversation and show off your personality and elevated taste.

Drawing is often considered one of the world’s oldest art forms, with historians pointing to cave art as evidence. In fact, a cave in South Africa, home to Stone Age–era artists, houses artwork that is believed to be around 73,000 years old. It has indeed been argued that cave walls were the canvases for early watercolorists as well as for landscape painters in general, who endeavor to depict and elevate natural scenery through their works of art.

The supplies and methods used by artists and illustrators to create drawings and paintings have evolved over the years, and so too have the intentions. Artists can use their drawing and painting talents to observe and capture a moment, to explore or communicate ideas and convey or evoke emotion. No matter if an artist is working in charcoal or in watercolor and has chosen to portray the marvels of the pure human form, to create realistic depictions of animals in their natural habitats or perhaps to forge a new path that references the long history of abstract visual art, adding a drawing or watercolor painting to your living room or dining room that speaks to you will in turn speak to your guests and conjure stimulating energy in your space.

When you introduce a new piece of art into a common area of your home — a figurative painting by Italian watercolorist Mino Maccari or a colorful still life, such as a detailed botanical work by Deborah Eddy — you’re bringing in textures that can add visual weight to your interior design. You’ll also be creating a much-needed focal point that can instantly guide an eye toward a designated space, particularly in a room that sees a lot of foot traffic.

When you’re shopping for new visual art, whether it’s for your apartment or weekend house, remember to choose something that resonates. It doesn’t always need to make you happy, but you should at least enjoy its energy. On 1stDibs, browse a wide-ranging collection of drawings and watercolor paintings and find out how to arrange wall art when you’re ready to hang your new works.