Arthur Elsley was a painter of domestic genre subjects and portraits, especially of children. His parents are known to have been John Elsley, a coachman and Emily Freer, residents of Curzon Street, Soho in London. The couple had six children, three girls and two boys. Arthur was the fifth child. He became a probationer at the Royal Academy Schools in 1876 and he studied there until 1882 under Frederick Pickersgill (1820-1900, Keeper of the Royal Academy between 1873 and 1887), Edward Armitage (1817-1896, Professor of Painting 1875-1882), John Marshall (d.1896, Professor of Anatomy), and Henry Bowler (1824-1903, Professor of Perspective between 1861 and 1890). Elsley exhibited his first painting, Portrait of an Old Pony, at the Royal Academy in 1878.
Elsley lived most of his life in London, first in Angel Court, then in the Gloucester Road and later in ‘the highly respectable artistic colony at St John's Wood.’ Elsley had many close friendships with other artists such as Solomon Joseph Solomon (1860-1927) and even he shared a studio with George Grenville Manton (1855-1932). Elsley was a keen cyclist and had taken a cycling trip through Belgium and Northern France with Manton in their student days. Manton also introduced Elsley to Frederick Morgan (1847-1927) and when Manton left the studio in 1889, Elsley moved into Morgan’s studio in St John’s Wood.
Elsley 's paintings, which he continued to exhibit at the Royal Academy until 1917, testify his fondness for children, in particular his own daughter Marjorie who was often the model for many of his works. Elsley preferred themes of sentimental narratives are often placed in rustic settings, suggesting that he was well acquainted with the countryside. His young, pretty children are often depicted playing amongst themselves, or with their pets. I'se biggest, which shows a small girl standing on a book, measuring herself against an enormous St Bernard Dog, was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1892, and won him considerable public acclaim. Elsley occasionally deviated from his pet and childhood themes, producing such works as Suprised! of 1904 which shows a lady on her horse out hunting, leaping over a monastery wall and scattering monks in all directions. Elsley often collaborated with Morgan with whom he shared a studio near Lord's Cricket Ground at Northbank. He typically painted animals in these joint compositions.
Elsley married his second cousin Emily Fusedale in November 1893. She was the eldest of three sisters and ten years younger than Arthur. They had one daughter Marjorie who was born in 1903. With the outbreak of the Great War, Elsley joined a munition factory where myopia was a virtue rather than a disability. After a delightful holiday in Tunbridge Wells in 1928, Elsley purchased a huge Victorian house there, 28 Madeira Park. Having been forced by his failing sight to abandon painting, he happily continuing with his woodwork and gardening until his death at the age of 91.
Elsley 's paintings were often engraved or used for advertisements, greatly enhancing his popularity and making him a household name. Elsley’s idyllic images of childhood became the icons of the Edwardian Era.