William Lionel Wyllie

William Lionel Wyllie
An engraved portrait of W. L. Wyllie fromThe Illustrated London Newsof 4 May 1889
Born	(1851-07-05)5 July 1851 Camden Town,London,United Kingdom
Died	6 April 1931(1931-04-06)(aged 79) Primrose Hill,London,United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Education	Heatherley School Royal Academy
Known for	Maritimewatercolours and oils
Awards	Turner Gold Medal (1869)

Dawn after a Storm,1869, which won Wyllie a Turner Gold Medal at the age of 18

William Lionel Wyllie(5 July 1851 – 6 April 1931), also known asW. L. Wyllie,was a prolific English painter ofmaritime themesin both oils and watercolours.He has been described as "the most distinguished marine artist of his day."His work is in theTate,theRoyal Academy,theImperial War Museum,theNational Maritime Museum,theNational Museum of the Royal Navy,and many other institutions around the world.

Life and career

Birth

Wyllie was born on 5 July 1851 at 67Albany Street,Camden Town,London,the elder son ofWilliam Morrison Wyllie(1820–1895), a prosperous minor-genre painter living in London andWimereux,France,by his wife Katherine Benham (1813–1872), a singer. Before marrying W.M. Wyllie, she had had three children byPercy Clinton Sydney Smythe, 6th Viscount Strangford.

Early life and education

Most of Wyllie's early summers were spent in France with his parents. He began to draw from an early age, and his natural talent was encouraged by his father and byLionel Smythe,his step brother. He was given a thorough artistic education; first at theHeatherley School of Fine Art,and then in 1866, aged 15, at theRoyal Academy Schools.At the Royal Academy he studied underEdwin Henry Landseer,John Everett MillaisandFrederic Leighton,among others.He further demonstrated his precocious talent when he won the Turner Gold Medal in 1869 at the age of eighteen withDawn after a Storm.His other early love affair, which he shared with his younger brother and fellow artist Charles William Wyllie, was sailing.

Artistic career

From the early 1870s Wyllie worked as an illustrator of maritime subjects forThe Graphic.In 1875, the academy rejected two of his works, and in anger he declared his intention to give up art for a career at sea. Over the course of several sailing cruises as far afield as Europe he laid the foundations for a lifelong love of the sea and of maritime subjects.

Wyllie was a prolific exhibitor, with paintings and etchings shown at the Royal Academy, the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, the Grosvenor Gallery, the New English Art Club, the Society of British Artists, the Dowdeswell Galleries and the Fine Art Society.

Wyllie became a member of the Society of British Artists in 1875,and of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours in 1882. In 1887 he became a member of the New English Art Club.In 1889 he was made an associate of the Royal Academy, and in 1907 he was elected as a full member.In 1903 he became a member of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers.

In 1920 he painted a mural for theRoyal Exchange, LondonBlocking of Zeebrugge Waterway, St George’s Day, 23rd April 1918.

Wyllie campaigned vigorously for the restoration ofHMSVictoryas a founder member of theSociety for Nautical Research,and in 1930 his 42-foot (13 m) panorama of theBattle of Trafalgarwas unveiled byKing George V.The painting is seen by about 100,000 people every year where it still hangs in theRoyal Naval Museumwithin the Historic Dockyard atPortsmouth.

Wyllie was the most distinguished marine artist of his day and his work is still in great demand. From 1906, when he moved to Portsmouth, he became closely associated with the Royal Navy. So much so, indeed, that he was buried with full naval honours in 1931. In a moving ceremony, reminiscent of Nelson's state funeral in 1806, his body was rowed up Portsmouth Harbour in a naval cutter past battleships with dipped colours and bugles calling and quaysides lined with dockyard workers.

Marriage

Marian Amy Carew Wyllie, portrait byJohn Singer Sargent

In 1876, at the age of 25, he became engaged to the 16-year-old Marion Amy Carew (31 December 1860–26 July 1937).They were married in 1879, and between 1880 and 1904 they had nine children; Harold (1880–1973), Bill (1882–1916), Dick (b 1883), Eva(1884–1912), Robert (1888–1914), Douglas (b&d 1894), an unnamed son (b&d 1898), Eric (b 1900) and Aileen (1903–1987). Bill and Robert were killed in the First World War and Eva also died before her father.

Death

The grave of W. L. Wyllie, and his wife Marion. Also interred in the same plot are his daughters Eva and Aileen

Remaining active in his final years, Wyllie continued to sail and paint. His work on the Trafalgar panorama was physically difficult, with much of the painting being done from step ladders, and on most days the work lasted from 10:00 until 17:00 with a short sleep at lunchtime. His daughter Aileen later remarked "At the time it seemed natural, but now that I am old, I cannot think how he did those hours on ladders in his 79th year."Wyllie died on 6 April 1931 at 102 Fellows Road, Primrose Hill, London, and is buried at St Mary's church, within the grounds ofPortchester Castle.

Selected works

Paintings, drawings and etchings

• The works of W L Wyllie
• 
  Toil, Glitter, Grime and Wealth on a Flowing Tide
• 
  Battle of Trafalgar,Juno Tower,CFB Halifax,Nova Scotia,Canada
• 
  TeutonicLeaving Liverpool(1889) oil on canvas,National Maritime Museum
• 
  The Opening of Tower Bridge, 1895
• 
  HMSCalypso,1897
• 
  The Battle of the Nile,1899,Tate,London
• 
  HMSValorous
• 
  HMSGood Hope
• 
  A clever feat: the destroyerHMSDerwenttorpedoing the cruiserHMSAeolusduring the manoevres 27 August 1904
• 
  Battle of the Falkland Islands,1914
• 
  The Track ofLusitania.View of Casualties and Survivors in the Water and in Lifeboats
• 
  Japanese battlecruiser Kongoas first built

Books

Written and/or illustrated by Wyllie

• W L Wyllie.Marine Painting in Water-Colour(Cassell and Co., 1901).
• W L Wyllie.Nature's Laws and Making of Pictures(London, 1903)
• W L Wyllie.J. M. W. Turner,(London: George Bell & sons, 1905).
• M A & W L Wyllie.London to the Nore(London, 1905).
• M A Wyllie.Norway and its fjords(London: Methuen & Co, 1907).
• W L Wyllie.Sketchbook(London, 1908).
• Jane, Fred T.The British battle fleet; its inception and growth throughout the centuries to the present day:Volume 1,Volume 2(London: The Library Press Ltd., 1915).
• W L Wylie & W F Wren.Sea fights of the great war, naval incidents during the first nine months(Cassell & Co., 1918)
• W L Wyllie, Charles Owen, W D Kirkpatrick.More sea fights of the Great War, including the Battle of Jutland(London, Cassell, 1919).
• W L Wyllie.The Old Portsmouth and New Southsea(London: The British Art Company, 1923).
• R M Whitlaw & W L Wyllie.Lionel P SmytheRA RWSLondon, 1923.

References

Hampshire Telegraph Friday 10 April 1931

Further reading

• Marion Amy Wyllie.We Were One, A Life of W L Wyllie(London: G. Bell, 1935).

External links

• Works by or about William Lionel WyllieatInternet Archive
• W L Wyllie biography at the Royal Naval Museum website
• 55 artworks by or after William Lionel Wyllieat theArt UKsite
• Chronology and photosArchived9 May 2008 at theWayback Machine
• Comprehensive Biography and photo
• Biography and photoArchived22 July 2011 at theWayback Machine
• Paintings by W L Wyllie(Canvey island archive).