Everett Bernard Ellin (1928–2011) was an American museum official, art dealer, engineer, lawyer, and talent agent. As the first executive director of the Museum Computer Network, he played a key role in museums' adoption of computer technology to catalog their holdings. Ellin was born on October 3, 1928, in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. He studied at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, from which he received a bachelor's degree in engineering, and at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, from which he received a law degree in 1952. He served in the

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, with duties that included drafting regulations regarding technological obsolescence. After leaving the Air Force, he worked for a time as a lawyer, serving as a law clerk with the California Supreme Court and as in-house counsel at

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

. He also worked as an assistant to a

William Morris Agency The William Morris Agency (WMA) was a Hollywood-based talent agency. It represented some of the best-known 20th-century entertainers in film, television, and music. During its 109-year tenure it came to be regarded as the "first great talent ...

executive. Urged by his then-girlfriend, painter Joan Jacobs, Ellin opened the Everett Ellin Gallery in 1957 on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles. He showed work by Jacobs and other California artists. In 1958, he closed the gallery and moved to New York, where he worked for blue-chip art and antiques gallery French and Company—it had recently started a contemporary art program, which was helmed by art critic Clement Greenberg. Ellin returned to Los Angeles and reopened his gallery on Sunset Boulevard in 1960, where it remained until 1963. The gallery hosted an exhibition of work by Niki de Saint-Phalle and

Jean Tinguely Jean Tinguely (22 May 1925 – 30 August 1991) was a Swiss sculptor best known for his kinetic art sculptural machines (known officially as Métamatics) that extended the Dada tradition into the later part of the 20th century.Chilvers, Ian; Gl ...

in March 1962, along with the first American ''Action de Tir'' by Saint-Phalle in an alley off the Sunset Strip. Ellin died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

on September 16, 2011.

References

External links

* Finding aid for Everett Ellin papers, 1928-2013,

Getty Research Institute The Getty Research Institute (GRI), located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, is "dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts".

, Los Angeles. Accession No. 2015.M.22. The papers document Ellin's professional life, including his work with the Everett Ellin Gallery, French & Company, and the Museum Computer Network. A small quantity of personal papers is also present. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ellin, Everett 1928 births 2011 deaths Lawyers from Chicago Harvard Law School alumni University of Michigan College of Engineering alumni Museum administrators 20th-century American lawyers American art dealers American engineers American talent agents Deaths from pneumonia in the United States