Published 12/01/2022
Richard Willis - his life and work
Richard Willis’ fascination with painting, and more specifically seascapes developed when he was a boy. His father owned two seascapes - both of which are still with Richard - that inspired him to pick up a paintbrush. By the age of just 18, whilst Richard was still at school, he received the honour of being the youngest ever exhibitor at the Royal Academy’s summer exhibition. Unsurprisingly, what followed was a long and successful career as an artist.
Born in 1924, Richard was educated at Harrow before enlisting in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, where he served as 1st Lieutenant of a landing craft. On D-Day, he was tasked with taking US troops and tanks to the beach codenamed Utah in Normandy as part of “Operation Overlord”. Richard has spoken of his experience in the Second World War:
“I wasn’t traumatised at all at the time. I guess the adrenaline is pumping and there’s so much going on around you, you have to just get on with what you’re tasked to do – we didn’t have time to be scared. It’s not until afterwards that you think about it.”
When he returned to England, it was only on arrival that Richard realised that he had a piece of shrapnel lodged in his knee, and before he knew it, he was whisked off to hospital ‘without even a toothbrush’. At the end of the war, he became a recipient of the Legion D’honneur for his brave contributions.
Richard’s wartime experiences went on to inform much of his artwork, and they’re meticulously translated by his brushwork. Richard has painted numerous subjects in his career as a painter, but in his seascapes, the focal point of the composition is usually a magnificent ship. Floating atop water that is full of dynamism and masterfully rendered light, his work is bewitching. His paintings are complex in both narrative and aesthetic, and his romantic landscapes depicting mountain ranges, forests, and rivers are particularly impressive, as many were painted from memory and imagination.
Passion for art runs in the Willis family. He met his late wife Diana, daughter of cartoonist HM Bateman, at art school. They have four children, two of whom went on to become professional artists, and Tilly, following in the footsteps of her father, is also a Bridgeman artist. Richard’s work is hugely popular with publishers internationally and widely reproduced in books and as prints. Regularly exhibiting his work at his former home Greenham Barton near Wellington, Richard is now grateful to have a workspace at Nynehead Court Residential Home, where he has lived for the past six years. Remarkably, at the age of 97, he still paints every day.
Discover our collection of Richard Willis works on the archive.
