Paintings by Robert M. Ellis

Robert M. Ellis (1922–2014) was an artist and the Curator of Education at the Pasadena Art Museum. Ellis produced the works in this exhibition during his year-long sabbatical in Europe, where he studied and worked primarily in Paris. More than 30 abstract paintings and drawings were on view, including the artist’s abstract Tree Series, which featured large canvases streaked with broad strokes of wet, dripping paint. In discussing his technique, Ellis stated that his work “is not accidental. Before those groupings of color are placed on the canvas, a great deal of study, drawing, and testing may have been done. But I want the effect of immediacy, and the finale work is done fast, with a brush loaded with paint.”