Richard Ellis—artist, author, conservationist, and great friend of AWI—died in May at the age of 86. Ellis grew up in Belle Harbor, on the Rockaway Peninsula of Queens, New York, and spent much of his early life swimming in the Atlantic Ocean and drawing its denizens. After obtaining a degree in American civilization from the University of Pennsylvania, he joined the US Army and was posted to Hawai‘i, where he continued his immersive love of the sea.
Richard had an extraordinary talent for portraying marine animals in wonderful, photorealistic detail, which he used to inspire the public into wanting to protect them. His artistry led to a long relationship with the American Museum of Natural History, beginning when he was hired as a designer in 1969 and commissioned to create a life-size blue whale model to hang in the museum’s Hall of Ocean Life gallery. Today, that installation remains one of the museum’s most recognized and beloved features.
At the time, however, the lack of good images of living blue whales on which to base his sculpture convinced Richard that to continue portraying marine animals in his art, he needed to see them in their natural habitat—a conviction that led him on numerous adventures around the world. He dove with fish, octopuses, and other sea creatures. He explored great rivers in search of freshwater dolphins, and was one of the first people to encounter great white sharks up close from an underwater cage. Richard eventually wrote and illustrated over two dozen books about marine life, and his artwork and writing received widespread recognition through museum exhibits and publication in the Encyclopedia Britannica and prominent magazines such as National Geographic, Audubon, and National Wildlife.
He came to the attention of AWI’s founder, Christine Stevens, in the late 1970s when she was directing AWI’s Save the Whales campaign to protect whales from commercial hunting. She shared Richard’s belief that galvanizing public support was key to saving whales—and this required motivating people to feel a connection to these animals. Christine, therefore, commissioned Richard to create portraits of whales, which AWI used in publications and posters to raise awareness about whales and the threats they faced. Contributors to AWI’s campaign also received prints of Richard’s humpback and sperm whale illustrations.
The Winter 1980–81 AWI Information Report (precursor to the AWI Quarterly) touted The Book of Whales, a newly published volume featuring Richard’s artwork and vivid descriptions of 33 whale species. We highlighted another book, Dolphins and Porpoises, in the Winter 1982–83 AWI Quarterly, lauding its beautiful illustrations of 43 small cetacean species while observing, “Richard Ellis is a superb artist. Yet this is primarily a book to read. Which says a great deal for the fascination of the story and the quality of the writing.”
AWI appreciates Richard’s friendship and salutes him for his life’s work changing hearts and minds to save marine creatures.