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Line 1: {{short description\|British painter}} {{Use dmy dates\|date=July 2017}} {{Use British English\|date=July 2017}} {{Infobox artist [[File:William Bruce Ellis Ranken.png\|thumb\|Ranken photographed by Baron [[Adolph de Meyer]], c. 1907]]▼ \| name = William Bruce Ellis Ranken [[File:Ernest Thesiger by William Ranken.jpg\|thumb\|Portrait of [[Ernest Thesiger]] by Ranken, Manchester City Galleries]]▼ \| image = William Bruce Ellis Ranken.png\|thumb [[File:II Warbrook House, Eversley, Hampshire, UK (2).jpg\|thumb\|[[Warbrook House Hotel, Eversley\|Warbrook House]] in Hampshire]]▼ \| image_size = '''William Bruce Ellis Ranken''' (11 April 1881 – 31 March 1941)<ref>[https://doi.org/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U230812 "Ranken, William Bruce Ellis"]. "Born 11 April 1881; s of Robert Ranken, Writer to His Majesty’s Signet, Edinburgh; unmarried; died 31 March 1941". ''[[Who's Who (UK)\|Who's Who & Who Was Who]]''. {{registration needed}}</ref> was a British artist and Edwardian [[aesthete]].<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/art/artist-spotlight/2013/12/14/artist-spotlight-william-bruce-ellis-ranken\|title=Artist Spotlight: William Bruce Ellis Ranken\|last=HARRITY\|first=CHRISTOPHER\|date=14 December 2013\|work=Advocate.com}}</ref> He was born in [[Edinburgh]], Scotland, to [[Robert Ranken\|Robert Burt Ranken]], a wealthy and successful lawyer, and his wife Mary. He attended [[Eton College]] and then proceeded to the [[Slade School of Art]], under the tutelage of [[Henry Tonks]].<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/william-bruce-e-ranken-1881-1941-ri-watercolour-133-c-661273795d\|title=William Bruce E Ranken (1881-1941) RI Watercolour\|work=Invaluable.com}}</ref> A fellow student was the actor [[Ernest Thesiger]], who became a lifelong friend; he was painted by Ranken in 1918,<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.williamranken.org.uk/portraits-ernest-thesiger/4578740794\|title=William Bruce Ellis Ranken\|website=www.williamranken.org.uk\|access-date=27 September 2017}}</ref> and married Ranken's sister [[Janette Ranken Thesiger\|Janette Ranken]] in 1917.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://library.brown.edu/cds/mjp/render.php?view=mjp_object&id=mjp.2005.02.0649\|title=Modernist Journals Project\|website=www.library.brown.edu\|publisher=Brown University & The University of Tulsa\|access-date=27 September 2017}}</ref> \| alt = ▲~~[[File:William~~\| ~~Bruce~~caption ~~Ellis~~ ~~Ranken.png\|thumb\|~~ = Ranken photographed by Baron [[Adolph de Meyer]], c.in ~~1907]]~~1902 \| birth_name = \| birth_date = {{Birth date\|1881\|4\|11\|df=yes}} \| birth_place = [[Edinburgh]], [[Scotland]] \| death_date = {{Death date and age\|1941\|3\|31\|1881\|4\|11\|df=yes}} \| death_place = [[London]], [[England]] \| resting_place = \| resting_place_coordinates = <!-- {{Coord\|LAT\|LON\|type:landmark\|display=inline,title}} --> \| nationality = Scottish \| spouse = \| relatives = \| field = \| training = \| alma_mater = \| movement = \| works = \| patrons = \| awards = \| elected = \| website = <!-- {{URL\|Example.com}} --> }} [[File:1930 William Bruce Ellis Ranken.jpg\|thumb\|''Covent Garden'', a 1930 portrait by Ranken]] ▲[[File:Ernest Thesiger by William Ranken.jpg\|thumb\|Portrait of [[Ernest Thesiger]] by Ranken, in [[Manchester ~~City~~Art ~~Galleries~~Gallery]]]] ▲[[File:II Warbrook House, Eversley, Hampshire, UK (2).jpg\|thumb\|[[Warbrook House Hotel, Eversley\|Warbrook House]] in [[Hampshire]]]] '''William Bruce Ellis Ranken''' (11 April 1881 – 31 March 1941)<ref>[https://doi.org/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U230812 "Ranken, William Bruce Ellis"]. "Born 11 April 1881; s of Robert Ranken, Writer to His Majesty’s Signet, Edinburgh; unmarried; died 31 March 1941". ''[[Who's Who (UK)\|Who's Who & Who Was Who]]''. {{registration required}}</ref> was a British artist and Edwardian [[aesthete]].<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/art/artist-spotlight/2013/12/14/artist-spotlight-william-bruce-ellis-ranken\|title=Artist Spotlight: William Bruce Ellis Ranken\|last=HARRITY\|first=CHRISTOPHER\|date=14 December 2013\|work=Advocate.com}}</ref> ==Early life and education== Ranken's first exhibition in 1904 at the Carfax Gallery (managed by [[John Fothergill (innkeeper)\|John Fothergill]] and [[William Rothenstein]]) in London was well received by artists and art critics.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.williamranken.org.uk/biography-2/4539165776\|title=William Bruce Ellis Ranken - Biography\|website=www.williamranken.org.uk\|access-date=27 September 2017}}</ref> He befriended [[Wilfrid de Glehn]] and [[John Singer Sargent]]. At the outbreak of [[World War I]], Ranken was living at his studio in Chelsea, a short distance from Sargent's studio, with whom he may have ventured to America during the war years.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=http://jssgallery.org/Other_Artists/William_Bruce_Ellis_Ranken/William_Bruce_Ellis_Ranken.htm\|title=William Bruce Ellis Ranken (1881-1941) Scottish born portrait painter}}</ref>▼ He was born in [[Edinburgh]], Scotland, to [[Robert Ranken\|Robert Burt Ranken]], a wealthy and successful lawyer, and his wife Mary. He attended [[Eton College]] in [[Eton, Berkshire]], and then the [[Slade School of Fine Art\|Slade School of Art]], where he studied under the tutelage of [[Henry Tonks]].<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/william-bruce-e-ranken-1881-1941-ri-watercolour-133-c-661273795d\|title=William Bruce E Ranken (1881-1941) RI Watercolour\|work=Invaluable.com}}</ref> A fellow student was the actor [[Ernest Thesiger]], who became a lifelong friend; he was painted by Ranken in 1918,<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.williamranken.org.uk/portraits-ernest-thesiger/4578740794\|title=William Bruce Ellis Ranken\|website=www.williamranken.org.uk\|access-date=27 September 2017}}</ref> and married Ranken's sister [[Janette Ranken Thesiger\|Janette Ranken]] in 1917.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://library.brown.edu/cds/mjp/render.php?view=mjp_object&id=mjp.2005.02.0649\|title=Modernist Journals Project\|website=www.library.brown.edu\|publisher=Brown University & The University of Tulsa\|access-date=27 September 2017}}</ref> ~~== Early success ==~~ While in America, Sargent introduced him to [[Isabella Stewart Gardner]], and he received commissions to paint portraits of the wealthy, including the Whitneys, Vanderbilts and Havermeyers. His output became prodigious as he worked in [[watercolor]]s, oils and [[pastel]]s. Returning to Britain in the 1920s, he painted many portraits of the British royal family and the aristocracy, as well as the interiors of their homes.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.schwarzgallery.com/artist/60/William-Bruce-Ellis-Ranken\|title=Schwarz Gallery - William Bruce Ellis Ranken\|website=www.schwarzgallery.com\|publisher=Schwarz Philadelphia\|access-date=27 September 2017}}</ref>▼ ==Career== In France during the First World War as a distraction from the trenches, he collected and repaired historical pieces of embroidery for sale<ref>{{Cite book\|title=Threads of life : a history of the world through the eye of a needle\|last=Hunter\|first=Clare\|publisher=Sceptre (Hodder & Stoughton)\|year=2019\|isbn=9781473687912\|location=London\|pages=46\|oclc=1079199690}}</ref> with [[Ernest Thesiger]] who was invalided and, in 1917, married Ranken's sister, Janette Mary Fernie Ranken (1877-1970). In her biography of Thesiger's friend, [[Ivy Compton-Burnett]], [[Hilary Spurling]] suggests that Thesiger and Janette wed largely out of their mutual adoration of Ranken, who shaved his head when he learned of the engagement.<ref>{{cite book \| last =Curtis \| first =James \| title =James Whale: A New World of Gods and Monsters \| publisher =Faber and Faber \| year =1998 \| location =Boston ▼ ▲Ranken's first exhibition in 1904 at the Carfax Gallery, (managed by [[John Fothergill (innkeeper)\|John Fothergill]] and [[William Rothenstein]]), in London was well received by artists and art critics.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.williamranken.org.uk/biography-2/4539165776\|title=William Bruce Ellis Ranken - Biography\|website=www.williamranken.org.uk\|access-date=27 September 2017}}</ref> He befriended [[Wilfrid de Glehn]] and [[John Singer Sargent]]. At the outbreak of [[World War I]], Ranken was living at his studio in Chelsea, a short distance from Sargent's studio, with whom he may have ventured to America during the war years.<ref>{{Cite web\|url=http://jssgallery.org/Other_Artists/William_Bruce_Ellis_Ranken/William_Bruce_Ellis_Ranken.htm\|title=William Bruce Ellis Ranken (1881-1941) Scottish born portrait painter}}</ref> ▲While in ~~America~~the United States, Sargent introduced him to [[Isabella Stewart Gardner]], and he received commissions to paint portraits of the wealthy, including the Whitneys, Vanderbilts and Havermeyers. His output became prodigious as he worked in [[watercolor]]s, oils and [[pastel]]s. Returning to Britain in the 1920s, he painted many portraits of the British royal family and the aristocracy, as well as the interiors of their homes.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.schwarzgallery.com/artist/60/William-Bruce-Ellis-Ranken\|title=Schwarz Gallery - William Bruce Ellis Ranken\|website=www.schwarzgallery.com\|publisher=Schwarz Philadelphia\|access-date=27 September 2017}}</ref> ▲In France during the ~~First~~ [[World War I]] as a distraction from the trenches, he collected and repaired historical pieces of embroidery for sale<ref>{{Cite book\|title=Threads of life : a history of the world through the eye of a needle\|last=Hunter\|first=Clare\|publisher=Sceptre (Hodder & Stoughton)\|year=2019\|isbn=9781473687912\|location=London\|pages=46\|oclc=1079199690}}</ref> with [[Ernest Thesiger]] who was invalided and, in 1917, married Ranken's sister, Janette Mary Fernie Ranken (1877-1970). In her biography of Thesiger's friend, [[Ivy Compton-Burnett]], [[Hilary Spurling]] suggests that Thesiger and Janette wed largely out of their mutual adoration of Ranken, who shaved his head when he learned of the engagement.<ref>{{cite book \| last =Curtis \| first =James \| title =James Whale: A New World of Gods and Monsters \| publisher =Faber and Faber \| year =1998 \| location =Boston \| isbn =0-571-19285-8 \| page =240 }}</ref> On the other hand, it has been said that [[Janette Ranken Thesiger\|Janette Ranken]] was in love with Compton-Burnett's companion, [[Margaret Jourdain]], a fellow Oxford student. Janette Ranken left Jourdain to marry Thesiger.<ref>{{cite web\|last1=McBRINN\|first1=JOSEPH\|title='Nothing is more terrifying to me than to see Ernest Thesiger sitting under the lamplight doing this embroidery': Ernest Thesiger (1879 - 1961), 'Expert Embroiderer'\|url=http://uir.ulster.ac.uk/36369/1/TEXT_vol.43_2015-16.pdf\|access-date=27 September 2017}}</ref> In 1918, Ranken purchased [[Warbrook House Hotel, Eversley\|Warbrook House]], in Eversley, [[Hampshire]], ~~in 1918~~ after the success of his first visit to ~~America~~the United States. The maintenance and costs associated with the property proved to be too much in the depression of the early 1930s, and he was forced to give up his beloved house. Ranken died suddenly in London in 1941 and was buried near Warbrook, at St Mary (the church is off the A327 road, about 2 miles from the A30). ===Public collections=== Following his unexpected death from a [[cerebral haemorrhage]],<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.williamranken.org.uk/biography-6/4578525303\|title=William Bruce Ellis Ranken - Biography\|website=www.williamranken.org.uk\|access-date=27 September 2017}}</ref> his sister Janette gifted over 200 works to be distributed amongst UK public galleries and museums.<ref>{{cite web\|url=http://www.mortimerfinearts.co.uk/?ranken-william-bruce-ellis-ri-vproi-rp-ps-nps-%281881-1941%29,158\|title=William Bruce Ellis Ranken, Artist - Mortimer Fine Arts - Bridgnorth Shropshire\|access-date=19 December 2014\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141219160810/http://www.mortimerfinearts.co.uk/?ranken-william-bruce-ellis-ri-vproi-rp-ps-nps-%281881-1941%29,158#\|archive-date=19 December 2014\|url-status=dead\|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Ranken's paintings are held in a large number of museum and public collections, including [[Southampton City Art Gallery]], Portsmouth Museum, Bradford Museum, [[Reading Museum]], [[Bristol Museum and Art Gallery]], [[Northampton Museum and Art Gallery\|Northampton Museum]], [[Derby Museum and Art Gallery\|Derby Museum]], [[Leeds City Museum]], [[National Museums Northern Ireland]], Glasgow Museums, [[City of Edinburgh Council#The City of Edinburgh Council\|City of Edinburgh Council]]{{Broken anchor\|date=2024-07-25\|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration\|target_link=City of Edinburgh Council#The City of Edinburgh Council\|reason= }} and the [[Government Art Collection]].<ref>{{Art UK bio\|retrieved=28 November 2013\|ref=1}}</ref> ==Works== Line 23 ⟶ 55: ==References== {{reflist}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Ranken, William Bruce Ellis}} [[Category:Scottish artists]]▼ [[Category:20th-century British painters]]▼ [[Category:British male painters]]▼ [[Category:People from Edinburgh]]▼ [[Category:1881 births]] [[Category:1941 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century British male artists]] ▲[[Category:20th-century British painters]] [[Category:Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art]] ▲[[Category:British male painters]] ▲[[Category:~~People~~Painters from Edinburgh]] [[Category:People educated at Eton College]] ▲[[Category:Scottish artists]] [[Category:Scottish male painters]]