Willy Tirr

Willy Tirr

(b. 1915 Stettin, Germany – immigrated to Great Britain 1938 – d. 1991 Leeds, England)

Flight III, 1983 Watercolour on paper 75.8 x 55.7 cm Ben Uri Collection Presented by Mrs Erika Tirr (the artist’s widow) 1993

Self-taught painter Willy Tirr’s bold abstracts draw on both German Expressionism and the American Abstract Expressionist movement. Raised in Berlin, he fled to England in 1938, where he was interned, before being sent to Australia. In 1941 he joined the army, eventually serving in the Intelligence Corps. In 1960 he began teaching at the Leeds College of Art and became Head of Fine Art in 1968 until his retirement in 1980. He painted in a self-built studio adjoining his house, moving among an artistic circle which included Terry Frost. In 1984 he was artist-in-residence at the University of Wollongong, Australia.