Arthur John Elsley

Arthur John Elsley proved to be an artist with a good nose for business and a good feel for the commercial use of his works. As with the Sunlight Soap advertisement, Elsley’s paintings were reproduced on calendars and magazine covers; they appeared in all kinds of advertisements, from cotton cloth to biscuits. Such advertisements were so important a source of income for him that Elsley often photographed his works in progress — developing the pictures in his own professional darkroom — and offered them to his clients for comment. Sometimes they suggested changes, and Elsley usually happily modified the finished work. An excellent example is the picture As Good as New (1912), which depicts a farrier in his workshop with two children and a dog. The finished work is quite different from the original photograph, since the dog’s tail has been lengthened, a hat has been put on the girl’s head and a bridle hangs on the wall.

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