(c) 2017 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

William Bruce Ellis Ranken

Edinburgh, 1881 - 1941

BiographyRANKEN, William Bruce Ellis
British, 20th century, male.
Born 11 April 1881, in Edinburgh; died 1941.
Painter. Figures, portraits, landscapes, architectural views, still-lifes.

William Ranken attended Eton before joining the Slade School of Art under Henry Tonks. In 1916 he travelled to the USA where he held a solo exhibition at M. Knoedler & Co in New York. While there his painter friend John Singer Sargent introduced him to Isabella Stewart Gardener who became one of the first of many American patrons to buy his work. Ranken was above all known for his portraits, interiors and paintings of the parks and gardens of London and Paris. He became vice-president of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters.
Group Exhibitions
1901, New English Art Club
Solo Exhibitions
1904, Carfax Gallery, London (first solo exhibition)
1916, Doll and Richards Gallery, Boston
1916, 1933, M Knoedler & Co, New York
1929, Chicago Arts Club
1931, Wildenstein & Co. Inc., New York (exhibition of interiors)
1942, Ferargil Galleries, New York (retrospective)
Museum and Gallery Holdings
Harrogate (Mercer AG): The Porcelain Room - Royal Palace, Madrid (1927, oil on panel)
Leeds (City AG): Olga Alberta, Baroness de Meyer (1907)
Lincoln (AG): Silver and Green (1928)
York (City AG): Mrs Kelsey in pink in the drawing room at Dalswinton
Auction Records
New York, 25 Oct 1946: Flowers and Parrot, USD 220
London, 8 March 1990: Pygmalion (1914, oil on canvas, 44½ ? 34½ ins/113.1 ? 87.8 cm) GBP 5,500
London, 18 Dec 1991: Pygmalion (oil on canvas, 43½ ? 33½ ins/110.5 ? 85 cm) GBP 4,180
Perth, 1 Sept 1992: Fountains at Versailles (1939, oil on canvas, 29½ ? 56 ins/75 ? 142 cm) GBP 3,300
Los Angeles, 15 Sept 1999: Music Room of Trianon House (c. 1920, watercolour, 22 ? 30 ins/56 ? 77 cm) USD 7,000
Los Angeles, 15 Sept 1999: The Room of Lady Mendl (c. 1920, watercolour, 23 ? 31 ins/58 ? 79 cm) USD 8,000
Paris, 17 Dec 2001: Elegant Lady (1928, oil on canvas, 64 ? 38 ins/163 ? 97 cm) FRF 19,900
London, 30 Sept 2003: Head of a Flower Seller, Covent Garden (black chalk, watercolour and gouache, 15 ? 9 ins/37 ? 23 cm) GBP 4,000
London, 28 Oct 2004: Souvenir of the Seventies (1923, oil on canvas, 44 ? 34 ins/112 ? 86 cm) GBP 2,800

Person TypeIndividual

Last Updated8/7/24

Terms