View source for Helmuth Ellgaard

{{Short description|German illustrator, artist and journalist (1913–1980)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2019}}
{{Infobox artist
| name             = Helmuth Ellgaard
| image            = Helmuth Ellgaard 1936.jpg
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1913|3|3|df=y}}
| birth_place      = Hadersleben, Germany (now Haderslev, Denmark)
| baptised         = 
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1980|4|22|1913|3|3|df=y}}
| death_place      = Kiel
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| education        = 
| alma_mater       = 
| known_for        = Illustrations, film posters, war correspondence
| notable_works    = Poster for "The Bridge" (Die Brücke)
| style            = 
| movement         = 
| spouse           = 
| partner          = 
| children         = Peter Ellgaard<br>Holger Ellgaard
| parents          = 
| father           = 
| mother           = 
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}}
'''Helmuth Ellgaard''' (3 March 1913 in [[Hadersleben]] – 22 April 1980 in [[Kiel]]) was a German illustrator, artist and journalist.

Helmuth Ellgaard was born in the then German Haderslev/Hadersleben (now in [[Nordslesvig]], Denmark). In 1928, the family left Haderslev, which became [[Danes|Danish]] after the [[Schleswig Plebiscites]], for Kiel. Soon, Ellgaard caught an interest in drawing and painting. He was educated at the [[Art school|Art academy]] in Kiel in 1934, while simultaneously working as a news illustrator for the ''Kieler Neuste Nachrichten'' newspaper. He also learned to sketch, and his specialty became fast sketches with [[charcoal]].
[[File:Ellgaard, Das Wunder von Lengede, 1963.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Ellgaard's coverage of the 1963 ''[[Wunder von Lengede]]'' mining rescue]]

In 1938 he was newly wed and moved to [[Berlin]]. After the outbreak of the [[Second World War]] he became a [[war correspondent]], and as a lieutenant in the [[Luftwaffe]] he participated in many raids as a journalist, including the [[Battle of Britain]] in 1940. His works were published in the renowned weekly magazine ''[[Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung]]''. During the war his two sons were born; Peter (1940) and {{ill|Holger Ellgaard|lt=Holger|sv|Holger Ellgaard}} (1943).

The war had destroyed the large publishing houses in Berlin, and new newspapers and magazines were started in [[Hamburg]] and [[Munich]] among other places. The Ellgaard family therefore moved to Munich, where Helmuth Ellgaard participated in starting the illustrated magazine ''Revue'', which was one of the many new weekly magazines in post-war [[West Germany]]. Ellgaard worked as an employee of the editorial staff as an image editor and news illustrator. In almost every issue there were illustrations by him, from 1953 also in color. His [[role model]]s were the American [[Norman Rockwell]] and the [[Danes|Dane]] [[Kurt Ard]].

In 1956 he chose to become independent, and moved with the family to Hamburg. There he illustrated books and worked for advertising agencies. However, his important work during the period 1954 to 1961 was the illustration of a large number of [[film poster]]s, of which the poster from 1959 for the anti-war film "[[Die Brücke (film)|The Bridge]]" (''Die Brücke'') is considered to be his most notable work. He died of a heart attack in 1980, 67 years old.

In 2003, his two sons Peter and Holger Ellgaard donated a large part of his works to the ''[[Haus der Geschichte]]'' in [[Bonn]].

==Posters==
<gallery widths=150px heights=200px>
File:Die Bruecke 1959.jpg|"Die Brücke", 1959
File:Es geschah am hellichten Tag 1959.jpg|"Es geschah am...", 1959
File:Orfeu Negro, 1959.jpg|"Orfeu Negro", 1959
File:Und abends in die Scala.jpg|"...abends in die Scala", 1958
</gallery>

==External links==
{{Commons category|Helmuth Ellgaard}}
* Museumsmagazin, Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Nr 3/2003, S.18–19, ISSN 1433-349X
*[http://www.retro-futurismus.de/ellgaard.htm Science Fiction by Helmuth Ellgaard on Retro-futurismus]
*[https://archive.today/20131222222957/http://www.postertreasures.com/movie/frameset/index.php3?sb=0&db=movie&uid=default&view_records=1&re=on&sid=1e33251521127bd&lshow=lettertrans&letter=artist&Artist=ellgaard&submitButtonName=Search Posters by Helmuth Ellgaard on "Poster Treasures"]
*[http://cyranos.ch/ellgaa01.htm Helmuth Ellgaard on Collector's Homepage]


{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellgaard, Helmuth}}
[[Category:1913 births]]
[[Category:1980 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Haderslev Municipality]]
[[Category:German graphic designers]]
[[Category:German illustrators]]
[[Category:German poster artists]]