Attrib. Harold Wyllie (1880-1973) - Watercolour One of the Pactolus Class

Description

A ship portrait of a vessel of the Pactolus class. Presented in a grey mount and a black wooden frame with a silver gilt-effect inner edge. Inscribed with the title to the lower-right edge. Also inscribed with the title and name of the artist on the verso. On wove.

Condition

There is some foxing, discolouration, and water marks. There are some minor scuffs and chips to the frame.

Size

16.1 x 27.7cm (6.3" x 10.9")
Framed Size: 33.1 x 44.1cm (13" x 17.4")

Artist Biography

Harold Wyllie (1880-1973) was a painter, etcher, and engraver born in London, the son of marine painter William Lionel Wyllie and nephew of Charles William Wyllie. Harold Wyllie failed to get into the Royal Navy and then began his art career studying at intervals under his father, architect Thomas Graeme Jackson, Edwin Austin Abbey, and Frank Short. In 1898 he was employed by The Graphic and sent to New York and then recorded events in the South African Boer War. Early in World War I he was a pilot in the Fleet Air Arm and in 1920 he was commissioned in the Army, attaining the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was awarded the OBE in 1919 and as an acknowledged expert in matters naval he served in the Royal Navy in World War II. In 1934 Wyllie was appointed Honorary Marine Painter to the Royal Yacht Squadron and in 1958 was elected Vice-President at the Royal Society of Marine Artists. As an exhibitor he showed at the Royal Academy, Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, Leicester Galleries, Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts and his work can be seen in the collections of the City of London Corporation, Dundee Art Gallery, Imperial War Museum, National Maritime Museum, Royal Navy Museum, Portsmouth and Southend Museums Service. He was married to portrait painter Euphans Hilary Strain.