Richard Willis was an artistic multi-talent and an enthusiastic teacher. Even as a boy he showed outstanding talent for drawing and great love for art. In the course of his artistic career, the Irish boy from Kerry became more and more versatile. He was remembered primarily as a painter and sculptor, but there was hardly a painting technique or craft in which he did not excel. Willis painted in oils, watercolors, or with pastels. He could sculpt, sculpt, enamel, and mastered the art of framing stained glass mosaics and creating ornate woodturnings.
Richard Henry Albert Willis, attended art school at an early age and interned with an architect at 16. With a scholarship from the National Art Training School in South Kensington, he went to London to continue his career unflinchingly at the University of Art: Here, in addition to various medals and awards, Willis received a travel scholarship and was named the best student ever to attend the school. "He is a born teacher. With the enthusiasm he is able to inspire in others, he gets more out of students than anyone I have ever known." Said his former teacher, Sir Thomas Armstrong, about him. This assessment hit the mark, for Richard Willis in turn began teaching art: in 1882 he was appointed principal of the Manchester School of Art. He ran the school for 10 years, teaching there with passion and dedication. The Manchester School of Art experienced a real flourishing period and gained great importance as the most important art teaching institution in England.
But his post left Willis little time to pursue his own artistic interests and so he was little known to the public. He resigned his directorship in 1892 to devote himself to his own art in a studio in London, exhibiting landscape paintings and sculptures at the Royal Academy. His reputation as a terrific teacher and director caught up with him, however: in 1904 he was offered the directorship of the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin. Willis initially declined in order to continue pursuing his own projects, but his passion for teaching was apparently greater. He agreed a little later after all and took up the post with the enthusiasm that was so characteristic of him. He wanted nothing less than to fundamentally improve the standard for art and for the teaching of art. Moreover, as a fervent representative of the Gaelic League, he strove to advance the movement of nationalism within Irish art education. One could already feel the breath of fresh air at the Metropolitan School of Art when Willis' sudden death put an end to all plans. During his vacations, which he always used to spend in his native Kerry, he died unexpectedly in August 1905. The mourning for the director was great; his "friends and pupils from Ireland" dedicated a bronze memorial plaque to him, which they presented to the National Gallery of Ireland.
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.jpg "The Hunt by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "Mary Rose by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "Engagement Between the Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis off Flamborough Head by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "Action Between U.S. Sloop-of-War Wasp and H.M. Brig-of-War Frolic, 1812 by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "Atlantic Ocean by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "British Man-o-War and Other Craft by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "19th Century Naval Engagement in Home Waters by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "Convoy of East Indiamen amid Fishing Boats by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "Sunlit Tree by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "Off the Needles, Isle of Wight, 1997 by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "The Action between U.S Frigate")
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.jpg "HMS Exeter engaging in the Graf Spree at the Battle of the River Plate by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "Windsor Castle: from the River Thames by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "Tower Bridge: From the Tower of London by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "Frigate hove-to, Awaiting a Pilot by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "Two Classics:")
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.jpg "East Indiaman H.C.S. Thomas Coutts off the Needles, Isle of Wight by Richard Willis")
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_Frigate_1996_-_(MeisterDrucke-159348).jpg "H.M.S. Chatham Type 22 Frigate by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "Gondolas at Rest by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "St. Paul")
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.jpg "H.M.S. Exeter at Sea by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "Saint Michael")
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.jpg "Fastnet Abeam by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "Trafalgar - End Game by Richard Willis")
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_Destroyer_-_(MeisterDrucke-1039674).jpg "H.M.S. Exeter, Type 42 (Batch 2) Destroyer by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "The Houses of Parliament and Westminster Bridge by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "Tea in the Garden by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "English River by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "Waiting for the Tide by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "Engagement Between the Macedonian and United States 1812 by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "Unknown Title by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "Mountain River by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "The Tanks Go In, Sword Beach by Richard Willis")
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.jpg "View of the Houses of Parliament from the River Thames by Richard Willis")
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