ARTIST: Dean Ellis (New York, 1920 - 2009)
NAME: Inception of Peace Corp
YEAR: 1995
MEDIUM: oil on board
CONDITION: Excellent. No visible inpaint under UV light.
SIGHT SIZE: 11 x 15 inches / 27 x 38 cm
BOARD SIZE: 14 x 16 inches / 35 x 40 cm
SIGNATURE: lower right
NOTE: This painting is the original painting which was published on the First Day Cover for the Republic of the Marshall Islands 55c Peace Corps stamp issued May 29, 1995. While speaking at the University of Michigan, President John F. Kennedy initially proposed the idea of the Peace Corps. So enamored were the students with Kennedy's suggestion that they soon presented him with a petition listing several hundred individuals willing to volunteer. When Kennedy later spoke to Congress, the idea had crystallized: "I recommend to the Congress the establishment of a permanent Peace Corps, a pool of trained American men and women sent overseas by the U.S. Government or through private organizations and institutions to help foreign countries meet their urgent needs for skilled manpower. The initial emphasis of these programs will be on teaching." Kennedy went onto say that he opened other countries would join his cause and improve understanding among nations."
PROVENANCE: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation.
CATEGORY: antique vintage painting
AD: ART CONSIGNMENTS WANTED. CONTACT US
SKU#: 120050
US Shipping $75 + insurance.

BIOGRAPHY:
Dean Ellis was born in Detroit, Michigan and studied at the Cleveland School of Art from 1939 to 1942 and with Karl Zerbe at the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts from 1946 to1947. His work is owned by the Cleveland Museum of Art and in many private collections. He served as an infantryman in the Pacific during World War II; after the war he worked as an illustrator in Cleveland, Ohio, while developing a reputation as a painter. In 1950, Life magazine included him among nineteen of the most promising American painters. Settling in New York in 1956, he was awarded a fellowship for work at the McDowell Colony, and his work is represented in many public collections. Ellis has designed stamps for the U.S. Postal Service and several foreign governments. Portraits painted by Ellis hang in the Metropolitan Club, the Union League, Columbia University in New York City, and the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida. Exhibitions of his work have been held in New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Cleveland.