Waterhouse, Sir Ellis

Waterhouse, Sir Ellis (b Epsom, Surrey, 16 Feb. 1905; d Oxford, 7 Sept. 1985). British art historian. In a highly distinguished career he was director of the National Galleries of Scotland (1949–52), director of the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham (1952–70), and the holder of many other prestigious posts in Britain and the USA. His publications were centred on two main areas, British painting of the 18th century and Italian Baroque painting, his chief books being Baroque Painting in Rome (1937, revised edn. 1976), Painting in Britain: 1530–1790 (1953 and several revised edns.), Italian Baroque Painting (1962), a monograph on Gainsborough (1958), and two on Reynolds (1941 and 1973), The Dictionary of British 18th-Century Painters (1981), and The Dictionary of British 16th- and 17th-Century Painters (published posthumously 1988). He wore his great erudition lightly and few other art historians wrote so entertainingly.