LOT Whyte's  /  Whyte's Irish Art Auction  / 

98

Richard Henry Albert Willis (1853-1905) CLASSICAL SCULPTURES: HERMES BEARING RAM and A CYMBAL...

Currency:EUR Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:1,500.00 - 2,000.00 EUR
Richard Henry Albert Willis (1853-1905) CLASSICAL SCULPTURES: HERMES BEARING RAM and A CYMBAL...
Richard Henry Albert Willis (1853-1905)
CLASSICAL SCULPTURES: HERMES BEARING RAM and A CYMBAL PLAYER (A PAIR)
both signed and dated [1878] upper right
pencil on paper
72 by 47cm., 28.5 by 18.5in.
Born in Dingle, Co. Kerry, but raised in Cork city, Willis worked initially as
an architectural apprentice, whilst studying at night at the Crawford School of
Art where his precocious talent for drawing saw him winning numerous medals and
prizes. Strickland (op.cit., Vol. II., p.540) wrote: "From the beginning his
career as an art student was an uninterrupted success, and having gained a
scholarship in the National Art Training School at South Kensington, he went to
London to continue his studies [and] was accounted the best student who ever
went through the school". This prodigious beginning was followed by a highly
successful career as an art educationist. He was head of the Manchester School
of Art, and later of the Dublin Metropolitan School, where he was an
enthusiastic supporter of the Gaelic League. His attempts to revitalise art
education in Ireland were sadly thwarted by his sudden death in Ballinskelligs,
in 1905. Note: the second work measures 28.5 by 17.5 inches.
€1,500-€2,000 (£950-£1,300 sterling approx.)
Sign In to Bookmark Lot