William Lionel Wyllie

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

Life and career Birth Wyllie was born on 5 July 1851 at 67 Albany Street, Camden Town, London, the elder son of William Morrison Wyllie (1820–1895), a prosperous minor-genre painter living in London and Wimereux, France, by his wife Katherine Benham (1813–1872), a singer. Before marrying W.M. Wyllie, she had had three illegitimate children by Percy Clinton Sydney Smythe, 6th Viscount Strangford, one of whom, Lionel Smythe, also became a noted artist.

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 by his step brother, Lionel. He was given a thorough artistic education; first at the Heatherley School of Fine Art, and then in 1866, aged 15, at the Royal Academy Schools. At the Royal Academy he studied under Edwin Henry Landseer, John Everett Millais and Frederic Leighton, among others. He further demonstrated his precocious talent when he won the Turner Gold Medal in 1869 at the age of eighteen with Dawn after a Storm. His other early love affair, which he shared with his younger brother and fellow artist Charles William Wyllie (1853–1923), was sailing. and of the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours in 1882. In 1887 he became a member of the New English Art Club.

Wyllie was considered among the most celebrated British maritime painters of his era by his contemporaries. His impact on the maritime communities around Great Britain during his life was great enough that he was buried with full naval honors after his death in 1931. (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.

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 Smythe RA RWS London, 1923.