Ernest Ellis Clark

Ernest Ellis Clark (Derby, probably 1869 – Derby, 1932) was an English artist who worked for the porcelain manufacturer Royal Crown Derby. His significance lies mainly in the connection between industrial design and art education in a provincial British city.

He studied art in evening classes before joining Royal Crown Derby, where he rose to become an arts instructor. He later became Arts Master at Derby College of Art. He won many prizes, including a National Silver Medal for Ornament and Design. In his forties he served in the Royal Field Artillery during the First World War.

His only book was a guide for students on design based on plant forms. In it he supplied the designs but did not explain how to turn them into decorations, and he urged students to work directly from nature.

Several of his paintings are held at Derby Museum and Art Gallery, three of them gifted by Alfred E. Goodey. Among them is Green Lane, which records the surroundings of the city shortly before the Hippodrome Theatre was built. He died in Derby in 1932, aged 63.