Frances D Ellis Portrait of Dattilo-Rubbo

This portrait by Frances Dolina Ellis of Italian émigré artist Antonio Dattilo-Rubbo (1870-1955) is now in the collection of Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua Whanganui, New Zealand under the title Ritratto del Maestro (Portrait of Cav A Dattilo-Rubbo).

Ellis was born in Papaioea (Palmerston North), Aotearoa New Zealand in 1900 and in her youth showed both musical and artistic talent. She travelled to London in 1923, studying at the Central School of Arts and Crafts under Bernard Meninsky, who instilled in her a lifelong interest in colour. After a brief sojourn in Australia, Ellis taught drawing at the technical and high schools in Papaioea, where she studied under Harry Linley Richardson.

In 1934, Ellis returned to Australia, enrolling in the classes of Dattilo-Rubbo), an early supporter of modernism in Sydney. Ellis held a two-woman show in 1938 with Dora Toovey, and by 1941 was appointed principal of Dattilo-Rubbo’s art school, where she remained until 1949.

Influenced by the post-impressionist teachings of Dattilo-Rubbo, Ellis greatly admired Paul Cézanne and her work reflects a cubist approach in its use of faceting and colour divisions. This portrait of the ‘maestro’ received his highest praise; Dattilo-Rubbo wrote: ‘… you have achieved the best by a good composition, supported by strong drawing, virile colour and excellent touch. It is a well-balanced work, and I heartily congratulate you with my good wishes to see the painting hanged in a worthy art gallery – if possible, in your native land’.

Dattilo-Rubbo exhibited a portrait of Ellis in the 1947 Archibald competition.